Symphony of the Heart
by lux-lucis-ex-umbra
Summary: The Loonatics have settled into Planet Blanc. However, a new threat in the universe is rising, one the Loonatics are not prepared for...
1. Chapter 1: The Course of Fate

**Symphony of the Heart**

Chapter 1: The Course of Fate

The silver ship careened across the sky, black smoke trailing from its sides. Cracks on the ship's frame widened as it continued its flight, the pressure of space attempting to crush the craft. The meteors floating in space only served to damage the ship further, ripping new holes into its metallic skin.

"Eject! Eject now!" she screamed.

Her cries could make no difference. The ship's fate had been chosen, and the countdown had commenced. Nothing could change its course. But it wasn't the ship she was worried about: the crew was still inside.

The ship exploded into a ball of flame, blinding the three of them. They fell to the ground in an attempt to escape the fire and the burning shards of metal. Together, they stared for a brief second as the wreckage floated off into the void. Only the dark ashes floated down to the surface of the planetoid on which they stood.

As she stood up, the coyote placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

"Oh no. They didn't have a chance." She gasped, finally accepting reality. A scrap of cloth floated down from the wreckage, and landed in her hand. **ACE**, it read. "He was the best leader."

She walked away from her two friends, trying to cope with her grieving heart.

_I'll never get to see him again._

She began to cry. At first the tears simply welled up around her emerald green eyes, but they rapidly began to flow down her face. There were no screams, no bitter denials; only the harsh acceptance of reality, and with it, this seemingly endless sorrow. She stared out into the cold, black reaches of space. Everything seemed so cold now. She felt as if her heart was being crushed. The light of all the stars, the heat of the great rock she stood on, even the flames from the very ship in which he had perished, no warmth could reach her, though the metal shards rained down and tore her skin, scalding her flesh. Despair alone remained in her heart.

_He's gone. Just like that. I…_

"There's nothing left." She stated, her emotions cracking and warping her voice. That single phrase expressed everything.

_Nothing at all…._

"Who you callin nuttin?" a voice behind her questioned.

At the sound, her ears perked up, and she spun around, praying she wasn't delusional, that this wasn't some kind of sick trick of nature, or of their enemy, to crush what little remained of her fragile heart.

"Ace!" she yelled. Her smile grew as wide as her face could handle. In front of her stood the rabbit she had believed to be lost. She disregarded her other friend, Rev Runner, as she had eyes only for one person. The pink bunny ran and hugged him, wiping the nonchalant smile off his face.

"I thought we lost you." She said.

_You have no idea... how much that hurt._

Rev stood watching. On the outside, he simply appeared to be smiling at the whole situation. He and the rest of the team had been waiting for something like this to happen though. A year working together and she had finally expressed some feeling about him. All it took was him dying.

"Hey, careful! You'll wrinkle the spacesuit." Ace joked, a grin covering his face.

"Uh, you scared us. We thought…" Lexi slapped his arm, trying to cover up her embarrassment at revealing her emotions so easily. She had blushed, but the spacesuit masked the color of her face, saving her from even more embarrassment.

"Yegh vrug vrug lur kaboom!" Slam exclaimed in his usual gibberish.

"Yeah-but-Ace-had-us-eject-right-behind-the-asteroid-so-it-looked-like-we-bought-the-farm-and-y'know-I-wonder-if-Zadavia-had-insurance-because-replacing-one-of-those-ships-musta-cost-a-fortune-unless-you-think-it-was-a-rental-or-maybe-if-we-can-get-down-to-the-planet's-surface-we-could-talk-to-someone-about-a-new-one! And-wasn't-it-cool-we-could-guide-it-by-moving-our-hands?" Rev blabbered on and on and on, until Lexi finally interrupted.

"Rev, not the hot issue right now" Lexi told him. A grin spread across her face, leaving no doubt of her joy at seeing her teammates alive and ok. The team marched off, ready for the battle awaiting them.

_Ace is alive. That's all that matters._

* * *

><p>One Year Later<p>

A year had passed, and much had occurred since that day on the planetoid. Optimatus had risen to near-conqueror of the universe, only to be betrayed and join Zadavia. Deuce had been defeated once more, and the Loonatics became guardians of the universe. They had moved to Planet Blanc, the center of the entire universe, in order to defend everything more easily. Thanks to the wonders of wormholes, and Tech's gadgets, the Loonatics had simply picked up Headquarters and dropped the building off at the center of Blanc. Zadavia remained in contact with the Loonatics, but she no longer commanded them. They still valued her opinion and information, though. She had Freleng to rule now, with her brother Optimatus at her side. And so the Loonatics became a self-sufficient force, capturing new villains and returning the escaped old ones to jail. Yet, a new threat was rising, one that the Loonatics were unaware of…..

* * *

><p><strong>So I'm aware that it's not much, yet. I'm working on the rest (obviously). This was merely an opening and a method of setting part of the tone. This is gonna be a long one... By the way, it's also my first fanfic. Judge it, criticize it, but if you found it good, I request that you at least say something. And most of the dialogue (except for Slam) is quoted word for word from that scene. And once and for all DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN LOONATICS UNLEASHED, ITS CHARACTERS, ITS LOCATIONS, ITS IDEAS, ETC. The overall plot and OCs are obviously mine.<strong>


	2. Chapter 2: Behind Closed Doors

Chapter 2: Behind Closed Doors:

The room was dimly lit, the only light emanating from the holograms floating above the table in the center of the room. There were four chairs around the table; only three of them were filled. On one side of the rectangular table were seated a man and a woman. On the opposing side sat a blonde-haired girl and the empty seat. The girl was in a plain, pure white dress, modest and unassuming, yet powerful nonetheless. Leaning against the back wall of the room, behind the girl, was a boy, the intended occupant of the seat. The boy wore a hooded cloak, black as the lightless ends of space. The darkness on the cloak was only broken by silver patches and the zipper of the cloak.

"We appreciate your haste to meet with us. It's not like the rulers of Freleng just have tons of free time on their hands." The blonde girl stated.

"You two are rather… unique." Optimatus rasped.

"Why did you wish to meet with us, though? This isn't a friendly little visit, correct?" Zadavia had a planet to rule now, and friends weren't the highest on her to-do list.

"Of course not." The girl replied hastily.

"I repeat, why then? Our planet seems safe. The Loonatics are fully capable of defending the universe. Other than the day-to-day villains, I see no problems. Why, then, did you want to meet with us?" Zadavia inquired.

"Well…." The girl started again.

"You're not wasting our time here, are you? We really do have much to accomplish here, and little time to spare." Optimatus was clearly agitated.

The boy against the wall spoke for the first time. "They're not ready. The Loonatics."

"Ready for what?" asked Zadavia.

The boy pushed off the wall and walked towards the table slowly, finally stopping next to it to look down at the people seated around it.

"Them." He replied.

The blonde girl turned and glared at him. "You said you wouldn't try to scare her!" she accused.

"Who, them? I recall no…not…them?" Zadavia began to comprehend. As she did, her face, already pale, drained of all its blood, leaving a near-ghost to be seen in the dim light. Optimatus himself grew silent and brooding.

"Yeah. Them." The boy replied darkly.

"You said they were done! Finished! No more! We thought we were safe! You said they would be in stasis forever! Sound the alarm! Call the Loonatics! What have you done?" Zadavia screeched. She was clearly beside herself, since Zadavia never quite yelled, even. She started to stand up out of her chair.

"Me, nothing. Turns out the stasis isn't forever. And they're coming out of it. But we've still got time. It'll be gradual, one by one. So by all means, call the Loonatics. BUT THEY ARE NOT READY." He placed as much emphasis on the last phrase as he could.

"The two of you are still incapable of defeating them, then?" Optimatus calmly questioned.

"Sadly, yes." The girl spoke.

"Then how are we supposed to beat him? If you two couldn't do it, how are the Loonatics supposed to? Caeli, how much time do we still have?" Zadavia was beginning to calm down.

Caeli, the blond girl, answered. "We checked as best as we could. They'll be emerging from stasis one by one, with roughly two to three weeks between each awakening, for a total of three months. It seems like a lot, but at the end…" she trailed off.

"He'll be back. But see, the reason they might be able to beat him is that we have something they don't. And knowing him, it'll be enough to win, but barely. This is implying that the Loonatics are ready, which, as of now, they are not." The boy finished.

"So, what will get them ready? Optimatus and I have neither the capability, nor the experience to train them to that degree." Said Zadavia, with all the urgency she could muster.

"I will." The boy stated simply. "Give me the three months and full command, and I'll have them ready."

Zadavia hesitated.

"Alright, maybe not full command. I'll try to keep from ordering them unless I have to. As little interference in battle as possible. Training is fair game though. And I'll give them some vacation." The boy compromised.

"Fine. I will inform the Loonatics that you are on your way, and to make you welcome. Naturally, they will ask why you are there." Zadavia accepted.

"Tell them that they need to be prepared for any challenge the universe can throw at them. That they're not yet ready for everything out there. Oh, and he's there to give them some vacation time as well. Under no circumstance are you to tell them immediately of what they are up against." Caeli said forcefully.

"Then it is settled. We each have preparations to make. I will command Freleng's military. Caeli, you know your part. Outside of this, we will interfere with your plans as little as possible." Optimatus announced.

They rose from the chairs, and each of the four left the room, leaving only the holograms of each Loonatic rotating slowly, until these too winked out.

* * *

><p>That morning began like any other for the Loonatics. The alarm clock began beeping. Ace dragged himself out of his bed, dressed in his pajamas. He yawned loudly, but no other Loonatic could hear, thanks to the soundproof walls.<p>

_I don't feel like getting up. So tired... _Ace was forced to debate between hunger and sleep. His stomach won that fight.

Ace stared out the window for a moment, taking in the sight of Blanc. It was an unusual adjustment, especially after spending over a year in HQ at Acmetropolis. He slowly plodded towards the door, trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes. He left his room and walked into the kitchen, where he saw each Loonatic still dressed in their pajamas as well. Most of them were sitting at the table off to the side.

Ace went to grab a box of cereal from the kitchen cabinet, but Rev was in the way, making his breakfast shake as quickly as possible. On seeing Ace, Rev started talking.

"Good-morning-Ace-isn't-it-fantastic-that-we've-finally-got-the-day-off-'cause-Zadavia-said-no-villains-were-loose-now-and-everything-seems-fine. So-what-are-we-gonna-do-today-since-we-can-go-anywhere-in-the-universe-thanks-to-these-wormholes-and-man-those-things-travel-fast-and-"

Tech threw a cereal bowl at Rev, shoving his face into the smoothie.

Rev pulled his face out and glared at Tech.

"What? It was more convenient." Tech tried to explain innocently.

"Seriously, though, chief, what are we doing today?" Lexi smiled at the tired bunny. "You look like you could use some rest. You've earned it."

Ace looked at her gratefully. _Thanks, Lex._ Ace truly valued her concern for him.

Duck interrupted just as he was about to answer, "Going and visiting my fan club. What else could we do except celebrate me being the top action hero of the universe?"

"Nei, how 'bout we just stay hea today, Duck." Ace really just wanted to go back to sleep. Days off were few and far between, and rest was a valuable commodity.

"It'd give me a chance to work on this new invention I have. All I have left to do is recalibrate the magnetic sensors and limit the phase-induction actuators and it'll be ready!" Tech was perfectly content with staying back at HQ for the day.

"It's settled then. We stay here." Lexi declared.

They continued on with breakfast, discussing the little things of life outside of protecting all existence. Each planned what they wanted to do. Rev and Tech were going to work on that invention. Slam was going to lift weights for a while. Lexi finally decided to re-organize her room.

After they ate, they returned to their rooms to get dressed, except for Ace, who just got back in bed. He had just begun to shut his eyes, when Rev ran through the hallway, knocked, and opened all the doors.

"Zadavia's online!" Tech shouted as he ran out of his room.

_Now?_ Ace groaned inwardly. _I thought we had the day off._

Reluctantly, the gray bunny put on his suit and walked out into the hallway. He calmly strode into the conference room, taking his time, but not forcing everyone to wait. By the time he arrived, though, the other five members were already seated at the round table, and the rainbow hologram of Zadavia was floating above the table.

"Loonatics, I have important news for you." She began.

"This isn't about our day off, is it? I had all sorts of beauty treatments set up for today. An action hero has to look his best." Duck complained.

Zadavia glowered at Duck.

"Alright, alright, I'll be quiet now." Duck withered under her vicious stare.

"As I was saying, Loonatics, I have very important news. In light of the fact that you must now protect the entire universe rather than solely Acmetropolis, you must be prepared for everything."

"Zadavia, what exactly have we got to be prepahd for?" Ace questioned. "Deh's no one out deh now."

"The universe holds many secrets. I'd rather you be ready if one of them decided to show its face. So, there should be someone arriving today to train you, and command you if necessary. Listen to what he says. He'll be here for the next three months. Make him welcome. And, he will be able to give you some time for a vacation."

"Sdyuifglopsra?" Slam asked.

"Yes, Slam, a full vacation, not just the day off." Zadavia answered. "I'll remain online until he arrives."

The group sat around for a good while. They had been sitting there twiddling their thumbs until Duck attempted to break the silence.

"When is this guy supposed to get here? An action hero doesn't have time to waste, waiting around for other people."

"Duck, I think that if this guy is so important that Zadavia's waiting with us, you can wait too." Tech was just as irritated as Duck, though. He still had his new invention to work on!

"Patience, Duck." Lexi said philosophically.

Once more the group fell into silence, each of them occasionally glancing at the door. Half-an-hour more had passed, and still nothing had occurred.

Ace was starting to nod off again. Slam was already asleep, and Rev was tapping his foot like crazy, and looking around every couple of seconds. Zadavia remained silent, but continued to float in the hologram. Tech pulled out some new gizmo from his pocket, and began to work with that, using the screwdriver he also conveniently happened to have in his pocket.

All of a sudden, every alarm in the building began to screech. Duck fell out of his chair.

"Aaagggh!" he shouted.

"Duck, no time to play games!" Ace's eyes turned yellow, and the rest of the group followed suit. "Rev, can you locate anyone in the building?"

"No-chief-sorry-zip-nada-nothing-there's-nobody-here." He spat out quickly.

"Lexi, can you hear anything other than the alarms?" The yellow-suited bunny turned to her.

"No…wait! I think I'm getting something!" She pointed over to a corner of the room.

"There's nothing there, except shadows." Duck was getting worried. How do you fight something that doesn't exist?

Except it did exist. The darkness began to thrash and twist, until they formed a round shadow on the floor. Slam began his tornado, Tech pulled out his new invention, which transformed into a gigantic cannon aimed at the corner. Duck pulled out his eggs, Lexi prepared a brain blast, and Ace stared straight at the corner, lasers ready to fire.

A figure began to rise from the floor, its head appearing first, and the rest slowly emerging. The shadows looked like they had smiles on their faces, while it seemed as if all the light in the room, radiated from the computers and holograms, was crushing in on itself, screaming for mercy. The agony of the light was nearly tangible. It only increased in intensity as the creature entered the room. A maniacal smile could be seen on its face.

"Loonatics, wait!" Zadavia shouted.

It was too late, though. The Loonatics had opened fire.

* * *

><p><strong>And the plot begins... Sorry about any confusion with "them." it'll be clarified later. Can't spoil anything!<strong>


	3. Chapter 3: A New Face

Chapter 3: A New Face

Waves of pure destructive energy raced towards the corner of the conference room. The Loonatics heard Zadavia's yell, and stopped firing, but the barrage had already been launched. The only thing they could do was wait to see what happened.

The figure merely smiled and flicked its hand upward. A blob of shadow snaked off the ground, and formed a wall of pure, solid shadow rose, guarding its creator. The figure became completely engulfed by the darkness. The pure power combined mid-flight, and began to twirl, the pink and red blasts, as well as the cannon fire, forging a beam of mixed colors, surrounded by Duck's power eggs. The new ray collided with the wall. All of the energy that the Loonatics unleashed simply disintegrated. They stood there, shocked.

The wall was released, and it disappeared. For the first time, the Loonatics could get a clear view of who they just assaulted. A young man in a black cloak stood there, grinning as if he was having fun. He lowered his hood, revealing messy dark brown hair.

"My applause. Good reaction to a small surprise. That makes my job one step easier. But Tech, put the toy down."

"Nei, Zadavia, who is dis guy?" Ace turned to Zadavia.

"This, Loonatics, is the person we've been waiting hours on." Zadavia was angry. "Why would you begin this with an alarm and a feinted attack?"

Tech walked over to one of the computers, pushed a button, and turned off the alarms sirens.

"Makes a better entrance. And it's more memorable!" The boy said sarcastically.

"Absolutely right. We won't be forgetting this one for a while now." Duck groaned.

"And what took you so long?" Zadavia was still agitated.

The boy got a dull look on his face. "I was never informed of when I needed to arrive. You neglected to mention when they even woke up."

Tech was only interested in how he entered the building. "How did you slip past all my defenses? I built them myself, they shouldn't have failed like that."

"You just saw me enter this room, and you're still going to ask that?"

"Man-that-was-so-cool-you're-going-to-have-to-teach-us-how-to-do-that-because-that-could-be-really-useful-but-it'd-make-things-easier-like-we-could-go-get-pizza-but-man-I'd-live-some-pizza-right-now-and-" Rev had run over to the boy and begun talking. The boy backed up slowly, somewhat anxious to get away.

"Grlogjdur!" Slam said unintelligibly.

"Yes, it's all very good that we didn't completely destroy you, but had we really wanted to, I, Danger Duck, could have easily done it." Duck tried to wipe dust off his shoulder dramatically, but only succeeded in seeming arrogant and foolish.

Ater raised an eyebrow, a smirk still on his face. "Oh, really?" his face seemed to say.

"Loonatics!"

The room fell silent.

"You." She pointed straight at the boy. "You haven't even introduced yourself. Now, I have to leave. Tell them the general idea of what you plan to do. Zadavia, out."

Her hologram winked out of existence.

"Ok, well, my name is Ater." He said rather awkwardly.

"What kind of a name is that?" Duck said sarcastically. "That's not a name at all. That's a fish!"

"This coming from 'Danger Duck.' And it's pronounced Ahh-tare. An otter is something completely different, and not a fish at all." He retorted.

Duck scowled at Ace. "I told you I should've changed my name!" Duck remained quiet after that, occasionally grumbling something about his name.

"Three months, Zadavia said." Lexi tried to get them all back on topic.

"Oh, yeah. I'm going to be here for the course of three months, training and preparing you for anything. There will be vacation time. Roughly three weeks total or so. Work out when you want the vacation, whether you want that one week per month, or what. You're all staying together on those, so decide together. I would recommend you wait a couple days, at least until we get started with the training, to decide."

Everyone grew excited at the prospects of week-long vacations.

Lexi, considered the consequences of the vacation. "Wait a second. Who's going to protect the city while we're gone?"

"I will. You guys would have three weeks off. No training, no saving the world from robots or villains. All expenses and transportation paid for."

The smile grew on Lexi's face once more.

_How is this one guy going to protect the entire universe? _Ace wasn't too sure about leaving everything in the hands of a person he just met.

"Ater, what kind of training will we be doing?" Tech leaned forward, interested in the reply.

"All of it. Fighting skills, power capabilities, group meditation, so on and so forth."

_Meditation?_ Ace wondered.

Lexi grew anxious. "We're not going to have to wear all of that dark clothing, are we?"

"No, I am not going to make you wear this style of clothing. That's not part of training at all. I'm here to train, not command. Unless I have to." Ater chuckled as the look of worry slid off Lexi's face.

Ater continued to converse with the group, and discussed his plans.

Meanwhile, Ace had remained quiet in his seat, trying to stick to the background.

_I don't trust this guy. Who breaks into a building when he knows he's been invited in? What's he capable of anyways?_

Eventually, the conversation stopped. Ater had one final announcement to make.

"Ok, everyone, you still have today off. Do what you want, don't get lost, we'll go get pizza or something later. I'm going to look around, and get the feel of the building. Anyone want to tell me where the guest room is? I don't want to accidentally walk into someone else's room."

Tech answered that question. "Any of the rooms down the hall, except the first six. Pick one, and you'll be good. Do you need someone to show you around?"

"No, thanks though. I learn best through finding it myself." Ater wasn't trying to be rude. He was being completely honest.

The group disbanded, and each went off in their own direction. Ace didn't quite know what he intended on doing.

_I still don't trust Ater. Maybe I'll follow him, just to see where he goes, and what he does._

Ace still had trust issues from when Deuce betrayed him, and then Pinkster betrayed the whole team. Just because Zadavia endorsed this guy didn't mean he was just going to be accepted!

* * *

><p>Ater began to wander the hallways, opening doors and exploring the rooms. He had found his room, the hangar, and Tech's lab.<p>

"Sorry." He had said when he walked into the lab.

"It's alright. Just don't touch anything!" Tech ordered.

Ater walked around the circular room, standing back and watching Tech work. Ater appeared to be assessing Tech and his inventions. He seemed to make a mental note of something, before quietly slipping out.

_Is he looking for something? _Ace pondered. For the most part, Ace had kept back, using his vision to keep Ater in sight. So far, much to Ace's chagrin, Ater had done nothing out of the ordinary.

Yet he continued to follow Ater. Ater appeared to have no knowledge of Ace following him, and so he continued exploring HQ. Every time Ater found a member of the time, he stayed quiet in the background, observing what they were doing. He was never noticed, either, except the one time by Tech.

He had encountered Slam in the kitchen, Tech in his lab, Duck in a spa-like relaxation room, and Rev in the living room watching TV. Duck was the easiest to slip past, mainly because cucumbers covered his eyes, and he appeared to be asleep.

_Just Ace and Lexi to go…_ Ater thought.

He continued to wander the silent halls, exploring every nook and cranny he came across. He opened the door nearest to him, and walked through.

Inside was a gymnasium, complete with gymnastics equipment and a swimming pool. Ater relocated the shadows from their regular places, and moved them under his feet, to silence his footsteps. He remained in the back of the room, passively observing, unnoticed by the sole occupant of the room: Lexi.

She was practicing her acrobatics, leaping from bar to bar, lithe and graceful. Ater admired her skill, but remained for but a moment. He had seen all he needed to, and left out of a door in the left side of the gym, still unnoticed.

However, his shadowy follower had not entered the gym, instead choosing to wait until Ater had passed through. Yet, Ace had no shadows to block sounds, and at his entrance, Lexi's ears perked up, her super-powered hearing easily catching the rise and fall of his feet. She turned to see her observer.

"Ace! You're just in time!"

"For what, Lex?" He was somewhat distracted, debating between following Ater and talking with his second-in-command. In the end, he chose the latter. The fact that Lexi was dressed in a tight, leotard-swimsuit cross didn't hurt either.

"I've been training for weeks on this! It should help me fight better."

"Alright. Let's see dis, bunny." Ace smiled at her, encouraging her for whatever she was about to do.

She smiled back, and took off at a running start. She began leaping from pole to pole once more, keeping every ounce of momentum she had going. Ace could barely comprehend that she had landed on a metal bar in the center of the gym, before he saw her racing towards a small rope at the end of it. He held his breath as he watched her leap off the platform grab the rope, and release, to land against the right wall. She started running, twenty feet above the ground, before she vaulted off the wall, to make a perfect swan dive into the deep pool.

Ace walked over as she emerged from its depths, applauding as she gasped for breath. He knelt down by the side of the pool, as Lexi swam over to the ledge, where she treaded water in order to converse with Ace.

"Wow, Lex, dat was really somet'in." And he meant every word of the praise.

"Thanks, chief. Now, are you talking about the swimsuit, or the routine?" Lexi joked.

Ace blushed slightly, thrown off by her boldness. "Nei, would I get credit if I said bote?"

Lexi laughed, "Looks like I won't have a problem getting someone to watch my routines anymore. What were you doing before you walked in here?"

The smile slid off Ace's face, a frown rapidly replacing it. His reaction confused Lexi as well.

"Lex, I'm not so shoy 'bout dis guy Ateh."

Lexi put her arms on the ledge, and rested her head on her arms. "What makes you say that?"

"Somet'in just seems wrong wit him. Who breaks into de Headquarters of de Loonatics, just to make an entrance? And he's been watchin us all day. He was in hea right befoa I came in."

"Ace, Zadavia put him here, with no introduction or anything. She's gotta trust him, to just put him in charge of us like that. She has her reasons."

"Zadavia doesn't always sheh everyting wit us dough." Ace remained unconvinced.

"And she never will. But it's his first day here. Give him some time." Lexi quelled much of Ace's suspicion, but it still nagged at him. "Meanwhile, you could help me get outta this pool. It's freezing!"

Ace stretched out a hand to her. She grabbed hold, and he began to lift her out of the pool. Suddenly, she fell back in with a splash.

"Ace!" She gave an outraged cry.

"Sorry. My hand slipped." He tried to put on an innocent face, but it didn't fool her.

She started to splash water at him, drenching him in water.

"Hey, hey, alright! I'll go get us some towels, just stop dat. You'll mess up de suit!" Ace gave in too easily.

"That's what I thought."

Ace smiled, grinning, walked about five feet away to a basket full of clean towels, and grabbed several of them. Lexi emerged from the pool, water droplets falling off of her. Ace handed her a towel and they both began to dry off.

"Alright, Lex. I'll give him a shot. I still don't trust him dough."

"He said something about pizza, anyway. Seems like it's about time for that."

After Lexi got dressed, she and Ace began to walk around HQ, just talking. Eventually, they reached the living room, where most of the other Loonatics had gone to.

While all this was happening, though, Ater had doubled back, and watched Lexi and Ace together.

_Just going to make this more difficult… _He was slightly agitated. _I did say I would go get that pizza though._

Ater walked into the living room as well.

"So, where's the pizza?" Duck said obnoxiously.

"Fudjfrocris Pizza!" Slam shouted.

"Give me a second. You've ordered it, right?" Ater questioned.

"Well of course! What do you think we've been wasting our time doing, walking around aimlessly?" Duck mocked.

Ater raised an eyebrow and smiled somewhat maliciously. "You mean, sat around, with cucumbers on your face?"

"Hey! I'll have you know, those pre-pickled pickles are very beneficial to an action hero! Gotta keep in top shape!" Duck tried to defend himself.

"Oi. You're going to be a right pain in the neck to train, Duck." Ater put his hand on his face, staring at the ground, and sighed.

Lexi was forced to be the reminder once more. "Pizza, everyone?"

Ater took one step backward, and sank (literally) into the shadows. The circle of darkness vanished after his head went through.

"We don't even get to use the wormholes." Tech uttered sadly.

"That's-alright-Tech-because-Ater-and-his-powers-can-get-him-there-and-back-faster-than-we-could. We'd-still-have-to-go-down-to-wormhole-central-and-activate-the-wormhole-and-" Tech pulled out a roll of duct tape, and taped his mouth shut.

"Some things from the 21st century just don't outlive their uses."

The darkness in the room rippled, coalescing to form the portal once more. An unholy number of pizza boxes rose out of the ground first, followed by Ater.

"I made dinner. Anyone hungry?"

Smiles began to radiate off the faces of the Loonatics. They put in a movie and watched that with the pizza.

Hours later, they all began to get ready for bed.

"Night, everyone!" Lexi was the first to leave. Ace followed quickly, and walked with her down the hall.

"Ace, just remember, we should give him a chance. You've gotta open up to people a bit more."

_And I don't just mean with people joining our team…_ Lexi thought.

"I got it, Lexi. Sleep tight." Ace said exasperatedly.

Lexi walked into her room, and changed back into her pajamas.

_Just can't take a hint, can he? He wouldn't even show any feelings until I left the planet. He blushed at the swimsuit!_

Lexi giggled to herself, and got into her hammock.

* * *

><p>She awoke with a start. Lexi rubbed her eyes, but still couldn't see. The room was still dark. She checked her alarm clock. <strong>12:01 <strong>it read.

_I just have to wake up…_Lexi groaned in her head. _It'll take me forever to get back to sleep! What woke me up? I don't remember any dreams._

She glanced around her room, and noticed that she had left the door open, just slightly. Lights were dancing through the crack in the door. Her super-hearing could detect an unusual sound for this time of night, barely audible, and certainly not for any other Loonatic.

She got out of her hammock, and looked down the hall to see what was going on. None of the other Loonatics appeared to be awake. She tiptoed down the hallway, the lights still waltzing down the corridor. As she approached an open door, she heard the sound of electronics buzzing. Curiously, she entered the training simulation room.

Through a way-one mirror, she saw a sight that astounded her.

Inside the simulation was Ater. And Ace, Tech, Rev, Slam, Duck, and herself. Every Loonatic stood on one side of the simulation, Ater standing, hooded on the other. In his hands were two swords, black as the void of space itself. And the Loonatics attacked.

She watched as the Duck began to teleport around chaotically, until he was struck down by a shadowy crescent-shaped burst that erupted from the ground.

She watched as Slam was thrown against the wall by a torrent of shadows, a forged beam of darkness.

She watched as Tech fell into one of the black portals. The portal sealed as soon as he was through, and Tech couldn't be found.

She watched as Rev began to race around Ater, until a salvo of black blades phased through him.

She watched as the Data-Lexi was casually tossed in front of a laser beam Ace had fired.

She watched the agonized look in the simulated Ace's face. The Data-Ace pulled out the Guardian Strike Sword, and charged towards the stoic murderer.

And she watched as in a single, swift blow, Ace fell to the ground.

She ran to her room, ignoring whatever sound she made, locked the door, and hid in there, curled into a ball, and began to cry.

* * *

><p><strong>Muahahahahaha! I really enjoyed writing that last part. <strong>

**Anyway, if you read this, I'm going to kindly request that you review. Whether it's tips, opinions, plot guesses, questions, flames from the fiery depths of the sun, I don't really care. I question my work. Feels like each chapter's too short. But, I can't get the opinion of a reader unless they review. And I can't make that opinion myself, since I know the plot. So thank you, and review.**


	4. Chapter 4: Pancakes and Trust

**So, sound out Ace's speech. Most h's replace r's. And a slight amount of fluff. **

* * *

><p>Ace rolled out of bed, the alarm clock beeping once more. He followed his usual routine, no getting dressed until after breakfast. He stared out the window, but took less time than usual. Today was the first day of training with Ater.<p>

_I'll try, Lex, but I still don't trust this guy._

Ace stepped out of his room, and proceeded to the kitchen. Around the table sat four of the Loonatics, eating some kind of round, floppy bread-like cakes. Stranger still, Ater stood in front of the stove, flipping the cakes in a pan.

"Nei, doc, what's goin on dis morning?" Ace wore a confused look on his face.

Tech was rather excited. "Ace! Do you know what these things are? Ater knows the recipe for pancakes!"

"You mean those things our ancestors ate?"

Duck jumped in on the conversation. "Real pity we lost the recipe for these things. From here on out 'pancakes' are the official breakfast of action heroes!"

"Cause bein on de cereal boxes wasn't enough, Duck?" Ace sighed. "Anyone seen Lexi dis morning?"

Lexi was the only person still not at the table.

"I don't think she's woken up yet." Ater informed him.

"Lemme go check on heh." Ace began to get worried. Lexi was always the first one up. She had always said it was so she could get ready for the long day ahead. Then she would list a ton of things she did each morning, from taking a shower to brushing her hair. The list didn't stop.

Tech and Ater resumed the conversation on the history of pancakes, as Slam devoured plate after plate of the things.

"So how did you get the recipe again? It's been lost for generations on Acmetropolis."

"Eh, it's just one of the things my family did when I was growing up. We'd make pancakes every now and then. I just figured y'all might like them. And you're going to need all the energy you can get." An accent would occasionally flit through Ater's speech, depending on the mood he was in.

_It's just not like Lexi to stay in her room this late. Is she alright?_

Ace walked back down the hallway, until he reached Lexi's room, conveniently located right across from his. The arrangement wasn't Ace's intention, but on the first day the Loonatics lived in HQ, Lexi had picked the room out after Ace picked his. Maybe it was just to be closer to another bunny, but Ace had had a funny feeling that there might have been another reason.

Ace knocked on the door. "Lex, you in theh?" He put his ear on the door in order to hear a reply. "Lex?"

"Ace?" Came the quiet reply.

"Yeah, Lex, it's me."

The door opened, revealing the blond bunny. Her emerald eyes were bloodshot, from tears and a lack of sleep. Her face was still soaked, and her pajamas were wet with her tears. Her clothes were ruffled, and her ears were standing up, listening to the approach of anyone. Ace walked into the room, and in the corner was a small puddle that had soaked into the carpet.

"Lex, what's wrong?" The grey bunny was worried for her.

Lexi tried to hold back a sob, but his presence merely reawakened her fears. "He….Ater….You…whole team….gone." She stuttered in between the sobs. Water welled up in her eyes once more.

Seeing Lexi like this really freaked Ace out. She was normally so strong. His second-in-command, not just because she was powerful, but because she could lead. And here she stood, fragile as glass in her pajamas, salt tears streaming down her face.

"Lexi. Please tell me what's wrong." Ace's face couldn't grow more concerned.

Lexi sat down against the wall, still crying. Ace sat down next to her, and she put her head on his shoulder. He placed his hand on the other side of her head, pulling her closer, comforting her. After a few minutes, she began to settle down once more.

"Lex, I can't help ya if I don't know why you're crying." He was forced to plead for information. Ace wiped a tear from her eye with his thumb, holding her face in his hand at the same time.

"Ace, you were right. About Ater. Last night, in the training sim, he had a program that let him face us. All of us at once. It was horrible..." She shut her eyes as she remembered watching herself be tossed in front of the laser. But what hurt the most was the look of agony on the Data-Ace's face afterwards. And the sheer rage that replaced it, before he was struck down by the person they were supposed to trust.

Ace's eyes flashed yellow for a brief moment, fury seeping through his heart, invading his mind.

"If you don't feel comfoitable describing it, Lex, it's alright. But if you can, I need to know what happened."

"He killed us. One by one. I was right before you, and you were the last…" She could barely whisper the words.

Words couldn't express what was racing through Ace's mind. Here was the man they were supposed to trust, to follow, to learn from, practicing slaughtering them. He had scarred the real Lexi forever. The hatred must have shown on Ace's face, because Lexi immediately grew frightened, though for him rather than of him.

"Ace, you can't confront him on this! Please, I'm begging you! I can't just watch you die again! Twice now, and if it happens for a third time, for good, I…" _don't think I'd be able to make it. _She finished in her head.

"Fine, Lex. We don't go runnin at him. We'll call up Zadavia foist." Ace's voice was dark and menacing.

"Nothing until then?" Lexi begged.

"We can go now if ya want." Ace suggested.

"Alright." She stopped crying.

Ace stood up, and lent her a hand. She grabbed it, and he pulled her up. She hugged him.

"Thanks, chief." He blushed.

Ace peeked his head out the door. "All-clear."

They both snuck out, and tiptoed the opposite way down the hallway into the conference room. Ace pushed a couple of buttons, and Lexi shut the doors leading to other rooms. Zadavia appeared, floating in the rainbow of light.

"Ace, Lexi, why are you calling me in the middle of the morning?" Zadavia was plainly annoyed.

"Zadavia, it's about Ater. We'ah not so shua this is woikin out."

"It's only been a day. What could he possibly have done to make you want him gone this badly?"

"I watched him kill every one of us in the training simulator." Lexi stated simply.

Zadavia was unsurprised. "That's all?"

"What do ya mean' dat's all?' He practiced killin us! Practice isn't goin ta make poifect heah!" Ace was furious at Zadavia's nonchalance.

"And have you asked him about it?"

Reluctantly, Ace said no. "Lexi knew how it woulda toined out wit me goin aftah him. We decided ta talk ta you foist."

"I trust him. That should be enough for you two, and the rest of the team."

"But why?" Lexi shouted.

"I have my reasons. But I trust him wholeheartedly. He would die, for any of you, to relieve you of the slightest amount of pain. Believe this, and throw away your doubts. He will prove himself to you, but you must trust him." Zadavia said emphatically.

"Fine, Zadavia." Lexi acquiesced. "We'll ask him about it. But if he doesn't give an acceptable answer…"

"We take him down." Ace finished.

"That's all I ask. Zadavia, out."

Lexi's stomach chose the precise moment that Zadavia left to growl. She put her hand on her stomach, and then looked up. Ace was chuckling to the side, despite his anger.

"Sorry, bunny, looks like in all dis mess you haven't eaten yet." Ace was still laughing. "Toins out Ater made some 'pancakes' or sometin, you might want to have one o' doze."

"Let's just go quickly, I'm starving."

The two bunnies left the conference room. While their faith in Ater wasn't complete, hearing Zadavia's testimony was enough to tide them over for a while. They slowly walked back into the kitchen, where Ater was still cooking pancakes.

"There you guys are! Well, breakfast has been ready, and you two are the only ones who still haven't eaten." Ater said. "And trust me, you guys are going to need this."

Lexi hesitated before sitting down, glancing at Ace for assurance. He gave a slight nod of his head, and she sat down. She stared at her plate for a second, having never seen pancakes before.

"What are these things?" Lexi was acting as if it was a scientific anomaly rather than breakfast. She inspected it, awkwardly looking at it from all angles.

"Pancakes! You-pour-the-syrup-on-it-and-you-eat-them! It's-almost-like-french-toast-except-there's-no-bread-and-these-are-round-like-pizza-butit's-breakfast-and-we-shouldn't-be-having-pizza-for-the-first-meal-of-the-day-and-" Ater shoved another pancake into Rev's mouth, silencing him.

"Well, go ahead, it's not like they're poisonous." Ater tried to encourage her, but his words just scared her more.

Ace took a bite, and just kept eating. They really were good. Ace's action gave Lexi courage to try the pancakes, and she picked up her fork. She cut out part of one, slowly put it in her mouth, and…

Her face lit up. She radiated joy, giving off a dazzling smile that practically made Ace jealous of the food. She couldn't put down the fork, and just kept eating those things like no tomorrow. The entire group began to stare at her oddly, everyone wearing faces that clearly said "Dear God, is she really eating all of those that quickly?" For indeed, she was.

"Had I known you ate these things as much as Slam, you'd be out of supplies from me having to make so many!" Ater joked.

"Uh, Lexi, don't ya tink ya oughta slow down a bit?" Lexi looked up with her cheeks stuffed full like a chipmunk.

The all of them, except Lexi, started laughing.

"Whasso funna?" Lexi questioned unintelligibly.

This only increased their laughter, until she just started to get annoyed. Finally, they settled down.

"Anyway, everyone, you have one hour to be ready for training. This is clearly so that you won't get sick in the middle of training. Meet me in the simulation room, on the hour." Ater informed them.

And an hour later, they were all ready to begin.

* * *

><p><strong>Slight fluff. Pancakes, what would we do without them?<strong>


	5. Chapter 5: One

Chapter 5: One

The Loonatics stood in a single file line, Ater standing in front of them. At the moment, he possessed a military aura, commanding and stern, so different from the pancake-cooking friend people didn't trust. Ater began to pace back and forth.

"Congratulations, Loonatics. Today begins phase one of my bone-tiring training regimen. You will hurt. You will be so tired that you can't even walk to your bed-"

"Hammock." Lexi interjected. Ace chuckled appreciatively, but Ater glared.

"As I was saying, this is going to hurt. A lot. Miserable, writhing agony, for the three months that I am here. On the bright side, you can have certain vacations. But now we begin."

"To start with, I have designed multiple simulations, several specified for each of you, others to train you as a team. They will test you, and challenge you like never before. You will grow strong. You will find powers you did not know you had, skills you did not believe you could attain. But it's going to take blood, sweat, tears, bones, brain, heart, and soul in order to finish this. Now, your first task will be to complete the trial run. This will demonstrate your current capabilities. The entire team will be watching you individually. Any questions?"

Ace came up with a rather cunning plan, to confront Ater about his simulator. "Yeah, I've got one. Do you have a sim, doc?"

"I do, in fact, have several sims designed specifically for myself. You can feel free to use them, but I do have to warn you, they're going to be more powerful alone than anything you've ever faced together."

"So say I wanted ta fight da whole team at once. Can I do dat?" Ace began to lead into the trap.

"Absolutely. In fact, I tested it yesterday." Ater knew exactly what was going on.

It just so happens that Lexi did too. "I know. I heard it, and I saw it."

"Ah. Then you probably want to know why you witnessed your own ruination."

Tech, Rev, Duck, and Slam all stood bewildered by the way the conversation had turned. Ace was still going though.

"Absolutely, doc. Try ta explain ta us why Lexi here watched everyone die."

"Alright then. Death is not necessary to win. However, under certain circumstances, victory might only be assured through the death of your enemies."

"And why would we be your enemies?" Tech asked. He had caught on, despite the continued confusion of the other three. They noticed the distrust though.

"You forget your own victories too easily. Or should I say, near losses. Black Velvet, took control of Tech. Sypher, stole all your powers and attempted to destroy you. Otto, traded your powers with each other and caused mass chaos for the team. Deuce, stole your own sword and tried to take over the universe again. Need I go on?" Ater had been completely prepared for this the entire time.

The Loonatics were taken aback, because he was right. How many times had they nearly lost, because their own powers were used against them? Being prepared didn't hurt, and although being ready to kill your teammates, if necessary, could be an advantage, nobody wanted to slaughter their friends. Ater had a point though, and it explained a lot of his actions.

Lexi looked at Ace. "He's right you know" her face seemed to say.

"Then Ater, I'm going ta apologize for my actions. I shoulda trusted ya." Ace professed his regret, and Lexi did the same. They both felt extremely guilty for what they had done.

"And I apologize for having you see that without understanding. I'm not requiring you to kill each other in the sim first chance you get. But you are going to have to fight an entire copy of your team at once."

"Jdogjhdos?" Slam gibbered.

"No Slam, you don't have to do that now. You would lose. Each of you would. Which brings me back to the main point. You've got to train. Now, the final and possibly most important part of my long speech. My power is that I have complete and absolute control of all shadows, and am limited only by light and my imagination. This means I can 'upgrade' your powers. None of you have reached your full potential yet. You've each reached a roadblock, a kind of obstacle that can't quite be gotten around without help. That's where I come in. Using dark energy, I'm capable of weakening, and possibly destroying that roadblock to your power development. Meaning every single one of you has powers you can release, with my help."

They were dumbstruck. To be stronger than they already were would be unheard of. Each began to question exactly how far they could go, what they could do with these "upgraded" powers. That is, until Tech asked a question.

"How exactly does this work, again?"

"Dark energy, and a shadow clone of your genetics. Using your shadow, I can understand your genetic code perfectly, as it has the exact same height and dimensions, having copied your genetics. I study the code, learn where to pour the energy, and the mental and genetic roadblock shatters. In English, I just break the roadblock." Ater conveyed the information in an intellectual matter.

"Dark energy, and shadow genetics… Wow." Tech admired Ater for the comprehension of science as well.

"Anyway, who's up first? Everyone's gotta go through the trial sim, let's get going." Ater urged them on, not that they needed it. All of them had lined up, and Duck was at the front.

The task was simple, destroy the few robots attacking with only powers, no punches, slices, physical assault without the use of powers.

Duck began with his usual chaotic dance, quacking all over the place. Finally, he began dropping the power orbs like mines, some breaking into taffy, others exploding like small bombs.

"And that's how a real action hero does it." Duck dusted off his shoulder, before a final egg he had dropped exploded, smacking him against the wall, to slide down slowly.

"Tell us when you meet one." Lexi put her hands on her hips and laughed at Duck.

Tech was up next. He looked uneasy.

"Remember Tech, just powers. No toys." Ater reminded him.

Tech scowled, and walked into the sim. At first, he struggled with the robots, having relied mostly on his inventions before. He was burned and cut by the robots, but his powers regenerated him. At last, he activated his magnetism, and tore the robots apart.

Slam entered the sim. He twisted into his whirlwind form, and smashed the golden robots, leaving a few behind. These, he dispatched with tornadoes shot from his hands.

Rev had the hardest time of all of them defeating the robots alone. His powers allowed him to race around the bots, but with no physical contact, he was capable of very little. In the end, he was forced to dizzy the robots. Bolts began flying out of each of them, until they simply fell apart.

_Needs improvement. _Ater noted.

For Ace, destroying a few measly robots was a cakewalk. Every time they tried to attack, he would flip away, or jump between the robots. He toyed with them, before letting them destroy themselves. They often collided with each other, violently exploding. Finally, he got bored and destroyed the remaining robots with his lasers.

Lexi had no problems either. She would run towards the wall, convincing the malicious robots to attack her. She would then run up the wall, and flip behind the robots, smashing them into the wall. Eventually, she brain-blasted them into simulated rubbish. Ace had watched her attentively, admiring her skill, and form. Figure played a part in this observing as well.

"So was dat it?" Ace questioned. He had grown bored with performing in the sim himself, but watching his team was something he had needed to do more often. In a single stroke, Ater had observed more individual ability than Ace had in two years.

"For the trial run, yes. Now we get to the fun part."

"Are we going to get new powers?" Even Lexi was excited still.

"Um, I'm sorry about this guys. I have a slight drawback to the new powers bit. By unleashing your new abilities, your current control goes crazy. You lose nearly all control you have on your powers for a while, until you train enough to learn what you can do. So, I'll only be able to unlock your powers one at a time, or else the whole team will be utter chaos."

Everyone looked crestfallen at having to wait, but still somewhat hopeful that they might be chosen first.

Ater pulled Ace aside. "Ace, could I speak to you for a moment?"

"What do ya need, doc?" Ace inquired.

"Your approval of the person I think should get new powers first." Ater whispered the name into Ace's ear.

"Yeah, I can see why ya picked dem. Alright."

"And the final thing, between the two of us. Do you trust me?" Ace looked into his eyes, searching for any sign of dishonesty, mistrust, or malevolence.

Ace sighed. "I can't say you've got my full approval. But, for now, I'll follow ya."

"That's all I ask."

The two of them turned to the rest of the group.

"Everyone, Ace and I have reached a decision on who should get their powers first."

Rev began a drum roll, and the Loonatics leaned in, eager to hear what Ater said.

"Congrats, Rev, you're up foist."

"Please step forward." Rev moved in front of the line of Loonatics, and stood there as Ater approached.

Ater flicked his wrist, and a shadow rose up out of the ground. It took Rev's exact shape and form, being Rev's shadow. Ater circled out, observing and inspecting.

"Uh huh. Yep. Alright. Ok, I've got it."

"This might hurt. I don't know." Ater whispered in his ear.

Suddenly, Ater's eyes became completely black, emitting a glow. A hazy, dark aura, surrounded him, and as he placed his hand on Rev's shoulder, it surrounded Rev too. It began to shift and squirm, slowly becoming more solid. The aura began to crackle as it transformed into a kind of dark electricity, sparking between Ater and Rev. The energy then poured into Rev. Faster and faster it entered, until the lightning had no end to its movement. Rev's eyes flashed red, and he began to cry out in agony. And then, it stopped. The aura faded away. Rev fell to his knees, drained of his strength, bone-tired.

"Rev Runner, your powers have now been enhanced. Go get some rest, you need it."

Rev hadn't waited on going back to bed. He had collapsed on the spot in sleep. Ater carried him out to the living room, and set him down on the couch.

"If that's what getting these new powers takes you can count me out!" Duck said.

"Sorry, Duck, it's not a choice. And he's fine. He just needs some rest before he's ready to test out his powers tomorrow."

"So we're done for the day?" Lexi tried to get out of more work, but failed.

"Rev is. The rest of you still have a long day ahead."

And they did. Ater spent the rest of the day making them run mile after mile in the gym, fight robots that adapted to their actions, and practice immediate control of their powers. At the end of the day, they shoveled food down their mouths, and fell onto their beds, and hammock.

* * *

><p>Rev came out of his coma-like state the next morning. Each Loonatic had to drag themselves out of bed, exhausted from the previous day's exertions. Today's breakfast was eggs and bacon, except for Ace, Lexi, and Rev. The bunnies had carrots and peanut butter, while Rev ate a bowl of straight birdseed. None of them really registered what was going on. They were given the hour to get ready once more, and met in single file line in the training sim room again. Every single one of them, except Rev, had slept for that hour, yet they were still tired.<p>

"Mornin', sunbeams, real life has started." Ater said sarcastically.

The team just groaned in response.

"Slackers. How do you feel Rev?" Ater turned to the roadrunner.

"Fine. I mean, just…about…normal? Hey, I'm talking slowly!" Rev noticed his new adjustment in speech.

"Like I said, chaos until you train. Care to know what your new powers are?" Ater teased him.

"You mean you know already?" Rev was shocked.

"It's more like a highly informed educated guess. But my guesses tend to be right, so…"

"Absolutely!"

"Judging from your current capabilities, your GPS power has been enhanced. You should be able to detect anyone, anywhere in the universe. Additionally, you'll be able to scan a place for multiple people." Ater informed him.

The roadrunner became sad. "That's it?"

"Obviously not, Rev, as you're speed has been affected. Normally, when you run, you're forced to simply grind to halt. Logically, that kinetic energy has to go somewhere, in this case, you're feet."

"And it's murder on them."

"Well, you can move faster, that's a given. But the main addition to your powers is that when you try to stop moving, you'll be able to release all of that kinetic energy in a burst. Jump onto something while running, and if you wanted it to, it would explode, and you would come to a full and complete halt." Ater explained.

Rev got really excited. "So-can-I-try-it-out? My-speech!"

"Go ahead. And I'm getting tired of saying this, chaos!" Ater turned to the rest of the team as Rev ran into the training simulator. "Pay attention if you can. One day you might find need of understanding your teammate's abilities. Sleep if you have to though."

Tech muttered a quiet thanks before falling asleep. There were a couple of black chairs next to each other in the control room for the simulator, and most of the Loonatics sat on those. Duck curled up on the floor in the corner of the room, while Slam just flopped out in a chair, his arms resting in the chair edges. Ace tried to stay awake, knowing that what Ater said had been directed mainly at him. Lexi was a different story. She crashed, so tired that she nearly fell out of her chair. Luckily, she was sitting right next to Ace. Her head merely fell on his shoulder, and rested there as she slept peacefully. Lexi's blond hair covered her eye. Her long ears, still tied together by the green ribbon, drooped and landed on Ace's lap. Ace didn't want to bother her, and let her stay like that. He stared at her for a moment, noticing how serene she was asleep.

_Quit it!_ A voice inside him yelled. _She's your second in command!_

_She looks so cute like that. So peaceful…_ A quieter, less angry voice stirred.

Ace resumed his focus on Rev, occasionally checking on Lexi to make sure she was alright. Keeping his focus was difficult, but worth it.

Ater walked over to a computer panel, filled with blinking lights and gauges. The control room was dark, except for the bright lights. He tapped a few buttons, and a light blue holographic touch-screen popped up. The small square hologram contained various folders, with names on each of them. Each folder was named after a member of the Loonatics, except for the folder Ater had made for himself. He tapped the image of the file with Rev's name on it, and multiple programs rose up. He poked the one that said "Powers Training," and the simulation activated.

Rev was suddenly in a gigantic wheat field, with nothing in sight but open space, and, well, wheat. The brown plants wavered in the winds, and a faint buzzing could be heard in the distance. The sun was bright, and the clouds wafted through the sky, casting long grey shadows. Rev looked around, but saw nothing.

"What am I supposed to be doing?" He said aloud.

A voice buzzed through the earpiece he had on, surprising Rev. "Scan the area with your GPS. Destroy what you find." The objectives Ater had assigned were simple enough.

Rev's eyes glowed red as he tried to focus on the area. Since he didn't know what he was looking for, he needed to search the entire wheat field. As he activated his power, he seemed to look from a satellite's view, tracking a single location on Acmetropolis. At first, Rev could see the whole planet, before slowly focusing in on the field. As he zoomed closer and closer, he saw something large, but shiny. A gigantic robot, destroying the field, and headed in his direction. Rev terminated the use of the GPS power, and began to run. At first, his power wouldn't work properly, and he couldn't reach his top speed. Gradually, he began to gain momentum, and the flames appeared behind his feet. The wheat field became a blur, the brown and grays and greens all merging together. As he raced forward, he started to see the metallic behemoth. It had the treads of a tank, a semi-sphere body, and many guns all firing at once. Rev dodged and weaved through the hailstorm of lasers, still moving at top speed.

_Kinetic burst, Ater said. Looks like I'm going to have to get right on top of this guy._ Rev kept running, coming closer and closer to the golden bot than would normally be possible, or safe. He reached the point where he had to either stop running, or hit the bot. He leapt through the air and landed right on the semi-sphere, his feet tearing through the thin layer of metal.

_NOW!_ Rev focused all of his willpower into moving his kinetic energy from himself to the robot. In a single instant, the robot flew backward and burst into flame. In a dramatic moment, the hulking mass exploded, leaving behind a pile of ash and junk parts.

In the control room, Ater and Ace watched everything Rev had done.

Ace looked at Ater. "Dis is what he can do now?" Ace was still careful not to disturb Lexi.

"You just watched it. His powers are more stable in the simulator, but with enough training, he'll be capable of doing that in the field as well."

Ace whistled softly. "Rev here isn't gonna be just a distraction now."

Ater tapped a few buttons, and the simulator shut off. The wheat field vanished, as the brown simulator room returned to sight. Rev walked into the control room and started to talk.

"Did-you-guys-see-that-I-just-destroyed-that-entire-robot-by-myself-with-no-help-at-all-and-now-I-can-actually-help-out-more-and-" Rev's jabbering had startled the other teammates, and they began to wake up.

Lexi slowly opened her eyes, and saw the black of Ace's uniform. For a second, she wondered where she was, until she realized she was leaning against Ace. She started, and whipped her head back.

_I fell asleep on his shoulders! What am I doing? Not that he seemed to mind though. _She giggled in her head a little at the fact that Ace didn't disturb her rest. She blushed on the outside, having been embarrassed by sleeping on the team's leader. Her face flushed a deep red, but Ace thought her blush was comically cute.

"Uh, um, what did I miss?" She stuttered.

Ace simply looked at her as if wondering if she was alright. "You guys missed Rev's demonstration."

"But you woke up just in time for your own training!" Ater said in a condescendingly cheery manner.

The Loonatics groaned, even Rev, but stood up and prepared for the onslaught of exercise that was to come. Each member was tested, and their physical limits were pushed by the outrageous exercises that Ater ran them through. At the end of the day, they succumbed to their exhaustion, and rested.

The rest of the week passed by in a similar manner. Each day, they woke up, ate breakfast, and were given an hour of rest and digestion. They exercised and attempted to accomplish simulations until lunchtime, when they ate again, and were provided an hour of free time once more. Until dinner, they were forced to run, jump, climb, fight, balance, meditate, and swim for hours on end. Luckily, no villains showed up to interfere.

Rev was showing improved control of his powers day by day. Initially, he was only capable of full control in the simulator, but began to use the full extent outside the sim as time went on. Everyone was extraordinarily proud of his accomplishment, but had little time to celebrate with the exhausting regimen Ater used.

* * *

><p>It was mid-afternoon on the seventh day of the first week. Ater, noticing the tiredness of the Loonatics, had allowed them part of the day to recuperate. They had all simply flopped out to sleep as much as they could. Evidently, fate wouldn't allow them that rest.<p>

The sirens blared into existence, screaming warnings about danger. Each Loonatic was jarred awake, and rushed to find the problem. Ater calmly strode into the conference room, the location of all the controls, and simply sighed, irritated at the interruption of his training for the day. Rev was the first to arrive, followed by Tech, Ace, Lexi, Slam, and finally, Duck.

"Acmetropolis is under attack!" Tech informed the team. "Some kind of anomaly is destroying the city."

"Any more information ya've got, Tech?"

"Sorry, chief, nothing."

"Ater, you gonna help us wit dis?" Ace looked at the black-cloaked young man.

"Sorry. I told Zadavia I would interfere as little as possible. This is your fight." Ater rejected the request for assistance nonchalantly.

"Alright den Loonatics, let's jet!"

* * *

><p>They arrived in the middle of the city, skyscrapers surrounding them, the streets strewn with trash. Their jetpacks had carried them down from the spaceship they had used to get back to Acmetropolis from Blanc. The entire city seemed silent, the only sound was the whisper of the wind. Gray clouds covered the city, making everything gloomy. The city seemed so lifeless, so empty.<p>

"It's quiet. Too quiet." Duck tried to sound dramatic and heroic.

"Little clichéd, Duck." Ace grinned.

"Hey, this coming from the long eared rabbit that makes puns for every little villain we fight!"

"Nei, they desoive it." Lexi giggled in the background. She had always loved how her leader made these puns, she really did find them witty.

"Kidodfjg!" Slam pointed down the street.

Walking towards them was a girl, with blue hair. The wavy, dented strands lay on top of a torn and battered jean jacket, underneath which was a tight, turquoise shirt. She ambled down the street slowly, the swish of her jeans being her heard with every step. Droplets of water fell from her hair. Her stare was cold as ice, and the smile on her face seemed frozen and malicious. The Loonatics fell silent as they watched her approach.

"So, you are the famous Loonatics. What a pitiful bunch." She laughed, the sound clear and flowing, contradicting the hatred she emitted.

"I don't think we've met." Ace was uneasy about this. The silence alone put him off, but the ease with which she faced them was unnerving.

"Ruler of the seas, Queen of the Oceans, master of water, and the nightmare that haunts you in your sleep, threatening to drown you, suffocate you, and force you to sink into the dark depths of the water, screaming as the last sight you see is the light fading, before you are crushed beneath the waves." She grinned sadistically as she said this.

"Dat's it? We've faced woise before." Ace waved her off as if she was nothing.

This enraged her further. Lexi, fearing for Ace's safety, warned him from continuing down this path. "Ace, don't do this. We don't know how powerful she is."

"Laugh while you can, rabbit." The furious girl's eyes were invaded by a blue light, dying her entire eyes blue. She began to wave her hands, swirling in a kind of entrancing dance.

"Dis goil needs to chill out." Ace said.

The girl narrowed her eyes. "Wrong move."

The water in the ocean shot forward, a small tidal wave smashing into the Loonatics, but the water had split around the girl. They began to float away, separated by the wave.

"Lexi!" Ace cried out, struggling to reach the female bunny.

"Aww, how quaint. The poor bunny wishes to save his girl." The tidal flow stopped, and receded, leaving the Loonatics washed up on the street. "Too late to act now."

Duck tried to teleport near her. He got close, but she waved her arm, and a tendril of water smacked him away. Tech tried to pull out an invention, but they had all been soaked by the wave. The circuits sparked and spat, but could do nothing. Tech tried to use his magnetic powers to fling sewage covers at her, but the girl froze an ice slide out of the water, which flung the covers back at him. He was pounded by the multiple disks, and fell to the ground unconscious. Rev raced towards the girl. She tried to hit him with the water again, but he jumped. He was moving fast enough to go through the water. She chuckled, and the water froze, trapping Rev inside. Slam entered his tornado form, but it sucked in all the water and solidified, locking him in place as well. Ace and Lexi alone were still standing.

* * *

><p>A black hole opened into the top of a nearby building. Ater rose up, and watched the events occur. He squinted to see who the Loonatics were fighting. He shuddered when he recognized her.<p>

_She's too early! They don't stand a chance!_

_You promised not to interfere._

_She'll kill them! _

_You're here to stop that. This is their battle, let them fight it._

Ater continued to observe from the ledge, torn inside between the desire to help the Loonatics and the oath he had made.

* * *

><p>Ace drew the Guardian Strike Sword, and rushed towards the girl. The pool of water behind her writhed, and flowed through the air towards her. When it reached her hand, it solidified into a chain whip. She grasped the handle, and began to flick her wrist back and forth, the long whip dragging against the ground. Ace slashed. The sword was caught by the chain whip, which had wrapped around the blade. She yanked his sword away, flinging it off to clatter at the side of the street. He flipped backwards, and tried to blast her with his lasers. The water poured in front of her, the light only penetrating so far into the liquid wall before it could go no further. She began her attack. The chain whip flashed, and wrapped around Ace's neck. He fell to his knees. His hands flew to his throat, trying to remove the whip. The girl walked towards him slowly.<p>

Suddenly, a pink burst of energy hit the girl square in the back. Surprised, she dropped the whip. Ace used the moment to free himself.

"The little bunny wants to play too? Can't her stand her man getting tossed around?" The girl teased.

Ace stood, and ran towards his fallen sword. Meanwhile, Lexi and the girl began to fight. The girl initially tried to toy around with Lexi. She would attempt to hit her with either the chain whip or a pool of water, but each time Lexi dodged. Lexi returned fire with her brain-blasts, but would often miss as well. Finally, one of the pink blasts connected after a long volley of fire between the two girls.

"Now, you've done it." The girl grew serious. She picked herself up off the ground, having been tossed back by the power of Lexi's blast. She waved her arms, and a wave of water washed over the ground. Lexi couldn't move, the street was so slippery. A fist made of ice flew towards Lexi. She tried to evade it, but slipped in the water. The block crashed into her, knocking the breath out of Lexi. The girl melted the block, and forced the water up into the air. The water began to slip around Lexi, until she was soaked. It tightened, crushing the pink bunny.

"Don't think I'll make it that easy." The girl was starting to enjoy the fight again.

The water released Lexi, and solidified into a barrage of icicles, each one tearing against Lexi. In a shower of frozen blades, her suit was torn, and it began to rip open her skin. The ice reverted once more into water, and began to hit Lexi with the force of a jet. Each blow drained Lexi of more and more energy until she was unable to even stand.

Ace tried to run to her, to protect her, take the pain for her. The girl noticed his efforts, and froze the water at his feet, into a block of ice so thick, it would take too long for his lasers to melt it. Not that he didn't try.

"Keep struggling, rabbit. It'll make watching your girl die all the more painful!"

Ace could see the fear in Lexi's eyes. Yet, even on the ground, Lexi was defiant, and refused to die quietly. Lexi stared up at her attacker, fighting until the bitter end. She tried to fire another brain-blast, but the girl knocked it aside with a wall of water. The girl walked towards Lexi, and kicked her a couple of times for good measure. With every blow the bunny groaned in agony. Lexi could feel her bones breaking. She stared at the bunny she never got to say goodbye to.

"Ace…" Lexi's voice was barely audible.

"LEXI!" Ace screamed. The pain he felt at watching this was killing him. And he could do nothing but stand and watch.

The girl laughed maniacally, and flicked her wrist a final time. A sphere of water rose from the ground, surrounding Lexi. Her broken figure could barely be seen through the blurry water. The sphere itself was spinning, white foam rippling out in multiple places. Lexi could feel death's cold caress, already coming for her. The sphere suddenly froze, ice shards spiking in internally. Ace could only stare as the frozen knives pushed in towards the girl he loved, incapable of doing anything to save her.

* * *

><p><strong>The chapter is named after the first week, and the first villain. And please don't assault me for messing with Rev; he seemed like he did so little other than fetch weapons and distract villains, I had to make him better first. Anyway, absolute control of darkness, and this girl has total control of water. Not like the weak, half-control, limited stuff on TV, absolute dominion restricted only by the imagination. How I wish I could animate this story as my own little episode of the show... And the story goes on.<strong>


	6. Chapter 6: Vena

**So, first off, I'd like to thank Loonaticslover13, Spudwick 13, Luna 246, AcexiFan, and daul52 for reviewing. I really appreciate this, it honestly does mean a lot to me. And now for the chapter.**

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><p><span>Chapter 6: Vena<span>

The sphere collapsed in, the frigid shards raining down on Lexi. Ace struggled to get out of the ice trapping his feet, but couldn't move.

"LEXI!" He screamed. He was dying inside, the pain of watching his second-in-command, his teammate, his friend being beaten down was too much for him. It felt as if his heart turned to stone in his chest. He could feel it weighing him down, as if it literally wanted to fall out of his body, it was too heavy. He wanted to run to her, to hold her, protect her, but he could do nothing.

A dark blur ripped through the air. The sphere disintegrated, leaving a pile of ice underneath, but, no Lexi.

"Where is she?" The girl shrieked.

A familiar dark portal ripped through the ground, appearing above the ice. Ater floated up through it, carrying the unconscious bunny, battered and bruised, in his arm. She was loose, and her body felt limp over his arm, like a ragdoll. Ace did all he could just to keep himself together, seeing the pink bunny like that. Murder raged through his heart, but still he couldn't move!

"You!" The girl started, surprised to see Lexi outside of the death trap, but more shocked at Ater.

"Surprise, surprise. Me." Ater said dryly.

He stood there as a dark orb drawn from the shadows floated up. When it reached his arm level, he pushed it away. It flew towards Rev, who was still trapped in the ice. The small dark orb reached the block of ice, and the block shattered on impact. Rev shivered at being exposed to the air again.

"Rev, get Tech, and take Lexi to the hospital. Keep them safe there." Ater commanded calmly.

"But-with-my-new-powers-and-you-here-to-help-I-could-free-Ace-and-Slam-and-Duck-and-we-could-all-fight-her-together!" Rev protested.

"I said go!" Ater ordered forcefully. He never once took his eyes off of the girl.

Rev zipped over to Ater, picked up Lexi, sprinted over to Tech, grabbed him and took off towards Acmetropolis Hospital. He was soon out of sight. At that moment, Ater flicked two more orbs towards Ace and Slam, shattering the ice they were in, freeing them. They ran up next to him, prepared to face the girl.

Ater was in no mood for games like this. "Stay back, unless I tell you otherwise."

Ace saw the look in his eyes, and much as he wanted vengeance for Lexi, the emotions he saw in Ater's eyes exceeded his own rage. Ace stared for a second into the dark one's eyes, debating whether he saw every emotion in existence pent up behind those walls, or nothing at all. Ace made up his mind, motioned to Slam, and the two of them stepped back. They ran to pick up Duck, and the three of them stayed as far away as possible. Two people the Loonatics barely knew stood in the center of the street, glaring at each other. The tension and force between the two was almost tangible. And with reason, for the Loonatics knew the power these two titans had.

"Vena." Ater said.

The girl called Vena grinned viciously. "How sweet. It's been a few years, but you still remember my name. Oh wait, it's not like you could forget. I'm just a memorable person like that."

"For your crimes…" Two more shadow orbs began to float up, spiraling around Ater until they reached near his hands. His eyes turned black as all despair. "You will suffer."

"What, no mummy and daddy telling you to hold back now? Little boy's all growed up!" She cackled.

Ater trembled with hatred. "I'LL TEAR YOU APART!" He roared. The two orbs solidified in his hands into black swords, each about three feet long. Holding an arm out to each side, he sprinted towards Vena.

"Now we get to the fun part!" She giggled. A flow of water moved into her left hand, and froze into her chain whip. She snapped the whip a couple of times, trying to keep him back. He continued his charge though.

He twisted, the momentum of his rush carried into his sword. After every slash, he would spin and attack with the other sword. The assault became an elaborate dance, the momentum of every deflection carried into another attack.

He brought the sword in his left hand up in a slash, but the chain whip wrapped around it. He gripped it, refusing to let go, and flung the other sword at Vena. It revolved in the air, until the point was aimed at Vena. She rolled to the side to avoid it. Ater felt a shift behind him. He leapt into the air, just as two crescent blades of water, like axes or pendulums, swept into where he stood a moment before. He fell to the ground slowly, the bottom fringes of his coat floating upward. He landed. The sword he had thrown flitted back into his hand. Near a building was a street lamp that cast its shadow onto the building.

"Playtime's over." He declared.

Ater jumped into it, his swords raised to the side. Vena looked around quickly, to see where he was now. She heard a tearing sound, and instinctively raised a pillar of ice around herself for protection. A portal opened in the air, and Ater flew out of it, slashing the pillar as he moved by. He didn't stop to land on the ground, instead entering another portal. He continued to race out of these, slashing the pillar, leaving and entering portal after portal, until Vena could no longer keep track of where he was. He was moving too quickly. In an instant he fell from above, and stabbed the two swords into the top of the pillar, almost kneeling as he did so. A resounding crack could be heard, and the pillar seemed to slide apart, carved by so many strikes. Vena stood there, exposed once more. She flipped backwards into a puddle, which launched her skyward.

"I'm not done with you yet!" She exclaimed.

Vena reached the clouds, and stopped there. Ater followed her, using platforms forged from darkness to lift himself up. The higher he went, the less he could see her. Without warning, icicles rained down from the sky. They hit him in a storm of frost, slicing his skin. He plummeted to the earth, torn and bleeding. The ground shattered beneath the impact. Shockingly, he pushed himself back up.

Ater stared up towards the sky. "Darkness, descend."

Black meteors began to plunge down from space. Vena was laughing at Ater's fall, until she looked up and noticed the meteors. Fear dominated her face, her mouth curving into a scream. Not a sound was made though, for the first great ball of shadows hit her in the stomach knocking the wind from her lungs. She was forced to submit to exactly what she had done to Ater, and tumbled down from the atmosphere. The water she landed in softened her fall, but the efforts of defending herself were straining her. She already appeared weary.

"Why don't you just quit while you're ahead?" Vena was getting angry now. She tried to distract him from the receding tides of the ocean in the background. "You could have joined us. You could have been great, you know."

"Not with any of you." Ater's face was grim.

"Such a waste of potential." She acted as if she was sorry. "Now you'll pay for it!" With that, she released a massive, three hundred foot tidal wave that towered above many of the buildings. Normally, a wave like that would never be possible, but for Vena…

Ater laughed as the great wall of ocean water poured through the streets. Just before it reached him though, he waved his arm. A humongous portal, exactly large enough to absorb the wave, appeared. The tsunami washed into the portal. With that, the portal slid shut. It opened back above the ocean to restore the water levels, but Vena didn't know that. Instead, she stood there in a stupor as the humongous effort she had made vanished into oblivion.

"Give in to the dark." For that phrase, his voice was melodious and appealing, yet destructive and chaotic at the same time. It called to her, beckoning her with a promise of annihilation. She shook her head, trying to clear away all the thoughts that voice had brought. And with these words, he began to whirl, his arms and legs kicking and slashing the air. With every movement, a line of dark power formed in the path of motion, stationary until he commanded its release. The lines began to build up into a shell of shadow. He twirled until he was completely surrounded, unable to be seen from any angle.

"Let the shadows be your last sight." The lines slowly expanded into crescent-moon waves, gliding through the air towards Vena. She tried to defend herself, protecting herself with a barrier of water once more. The blades sliced into it, capable of only going so far before they were stopped. Ater stood and watched as every wave sliced into her defenses, and grimaced when the efforts failed once more. She emerged from the barrage of shadow, unscathed.

"No matter what you do, you just can't beat me." She laughed maniacally, buckling over and slapping her knees.

"Ace, shoot her. Now." Ace was startled by the command, but obeyed. Lasers burst from his eyes, and bolted towards Vena.

She stood up, and moved a body of water in front of her, so thick that no light or laser could penetrate it. Ater warped in front of her, jumping out through the darkness left by the water she had just created. His fist collided with her face, and she crumpled. He continued to beat her until she was unconscious, and kicked her once more for good measure. It almost seemed inhumane and ungentlemanly, beating down the girl like that, but Ater had no other methods of subduing her, especially knowing her capabilities.

"Get going! Lexi's still at the hospital! I'll take care of Vena." Ater grabbed the insensate mad-girl, and jumped into a portal of darkness.

The remaining Loonatics took off down the street, trying to get to their injured friend. All three remained silent, dumbfounded by what they had just witnessed.

* * *

><p>Ater slumped the girl across the wall of the Acmetropolis Prison. He placed two fingers on her forehand, and a pulse of darkness flowed between them. He had placed her in an endless coma, able to be awakened only by himself, and thus ready to sleep for all eternity. He left the building the same way he entered, going this time to the hospital, where the other Loonatics already were.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>And there you have it. I know it was shorter, but a gigantic fight scene, one of the precious few in which Ater actually fights. Feel free to use Vena in you stories, just don't do anything backstory-related cause I have that for later. If you use her, give me credit, tell me that you are using her, and keep her in character (No backstory for her yet, unless you make that original for your story). If someone could draw any of this, I would be amazed. Curse you poor artistic capabilities! I might change the title of the story, not sure. The next chapter shall arrive soon, though I may have to take a short break before too long.<strong>


	7. Chapter 7: Wounded

**So, the next chapter. If you want music to go along with the majority of this, look up "Kingdom Hearts Terra Theme." Trust me, it fits, at least for most of the chapter. It's fairly fast paced though. And I don't own that song.**

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><p><span>Chapter 7: Wounded<span>

Ace burst through the front doors of Acmetropolis Hospital, gasping for breath. His lack of oxygen still didn't slow him down; something far more important was on his mind. People were sitting in chairs all around the entrance, but the white reception desk was the first thing he saw. He bolted over to the counter. Sitting there was a woman with papers strewn all over the desk.

"Lexi…Bunny." He gasped.

She looked at him oddly. "You some kind of fan?"

"No. I'm a friend."

The receptionist eyed hum suspiciously for a moment longer, but decided she could trust him. "Down the hall, take a left, turn right, go into the ER, turn right, she's in room 205."

"Tanks!" Ace ran through the hospital, passing door after door, flying down white hall after white hall. He tried to follow the instructions, and succeeded. However, his feet slid all over the slick floor, and he managed to knock over various doctors and patients, who all grumbled something about crazy rabbits. Ace didn't mind though, as they were simply obstacles that stood between himself and his friend. At last he reached the ER waiting room. There sat Rev and Tech, as well as clusters of people with cameras. Rev was tapping his foot wildly, and looking around in all directions, while Tech calmly sat and waited. Tech was the first to notice Ace though.

"Chief! They won't let you see her. We already told them we were the Loonatics, but they wouldn't let us in." Tech stood up to meet Ace.

"Yeah-it's-really-annoying-because-she's-our-friend-and-we-don't-want-to-leave-her-like-this-but-the-doctors-aren't-letting-us-in-even-though-we-told-them-we-were-Loonatics-they-just-wouldn't-let-us-see-her."

"What's wit da paparazzi?" Ace inquired.

"They heard Lexi was in critical condition and rushed over here. The doctors won't let them in though. They've even got bodyguards in front of the door, like we're not enough. I'd do something to help, but I'm a physicist, not a doctor."

Rev seemed to mutter off to the side, "Inventor-and-physicist-but-that's-beside-the-point."

The color drained from Ace's face when he heard about the critical condition. "They're not stoppin' me." Ace was determined to reach his friend. The Loonatics he left behind in the waiting room watched to see what would happen, knowing that nothing could stop Ace from getting through. He marched up to the door of the room, where several guards stood to prevent fans and reporters from entering. They glared at him as he knocked on the door. A nurse dressed completely in white stuck her head out the door.

"Sorry, no crazy fans. No visitors either, other than immediate family members." She was about to shut the door again when Ace stopped her.

Ace racked his brain for an excuse. "Dat's poifect den, doc, 'cause I'm her husband." This was the first response Ace came up with. He had surprised himself with it, but managed to keep a straight face. The nurse appeared to buy it, as she opened the door just wide enough to allow him in.

Ace looked behind himself for a moment, trying to see if the reporters had heard that comment. Sadly, they did, and as they rushed towards him, he jumped through the door and slammed it shut. There he saw the blonde bunny, still in what remained of her pink suit, hooked up to various tubes and machinery. She lay on the bed, her eyes shut, and an oxygen mask across her mouth. A heart rate monitor was slowly pulsating to the side of the white hospital bed. A rolling tray of needles and sewing materials stood on the other side, revealing that she had stitches put in. Seeing the condition Lexi was in, Ace was worried, and furious. She seemed fragile, broken, weak… and it was killing him inside. Here she was, his second-in-command, his friend, tied to a hospital bed with precious life-blood being pumped into her veins! His rage died quickly, having remembered what Ater accomplished earlier, but regardless, he felt it smoldering in his heart. He pulled a green seat over to the side of her bed. The doctors in the room stared at him for a second, not saying anything, but continued to monitor her vitals. He gently held her hand between his two, massaging it. It seemed almost as if he was trying to wake her up, but it was a movement to comfort himself, to assure himself that she was safe, that she would make it through this. When he touched her hand, her heart rate jumped, surprising all the doctors. She seemed to know it was him, despite the fact that she was on enough medication to drop an elephant for a year. She remained unconscious. The doctors scrambled to see the cause of the jump. Suddenly, the pulsations of Lexi's heart plunged, straightening into a flat-line.

* * *

><p>Lexi stood in a road, three paths splitting apart ahead of her. Hundreds of other people seemed to stand at the same spot, but they all seemed faded. She couldn't see any of their faces, and when she tried to focus on one of them, it vanished from her vision. A cold, dry wind rippled through the air, whipping up sand from the dunes around her. The whole area seemed to be different shades of brown, except for the dirt paths in front of her. Even the sky was a dull brown. It reminded her of a destroyed, ruined world, void except for what she saw. The three paths alone were the only interesting things in sight, outside of the semi-visible shades. One path was made of rocks, one was paved and clean, and the final path was sharp and narrow, jagged stones jutting from the ground. For a moment, she wondered where she was, but the thought evaporated as quickly as it arrived. She felt as if she belonged here.<p>

A voice called out, deep and resounding. "Lexi Bunny. This is the Crossroads. A choice lies before you. Many arrive here every day, and there is a journey ahead of you. But the decision you make here will determine your fate. Choose wisely."

"What exactly am I choosing?" She asked. She spun around, looking for whoever she was talking to, but nobody was there. She shrugged her shoulders, but continued listening.

"Destiny. One path leads to fire, one to light, and one to return. Your knowledge will tell you which path is which, and your heart will help you decide."

"That's it? No other hints? Remind me never to talk to disembodied voices again."

_So which do I choose? _She thought. She took a long look at each of the paths, debating the chances and consequences of taking each one, not that she knew where each one led.

A faint whispering seemed to be carried on the wind. Her ears picked it up, but the soft whistling was irrelevant to her, a distraction meant to be ignored.

_One to fire, one to light, and one to return? What does that even mean? Oh well, better make a choice. Lola Bunny always said to keep moving forward. Well, that, and 'Don't ever call me doll.' So I will keep moving forward._ With these thoughts in her head, Lexi began to walk onto the path of jagged stones, ignoring the pain in her feet. The wind appeared to grow stronger, and continued this with every step.

* * *

><p>"Lexi!" Ace shouted. "Lexi, wake up!"<p>

He was shaking her, trying to bring her back. Chaos erupted in the room as the doctors fiddled with the machines, trying to understand what was going on. A doctor stepped over to him, and tried to pull him away.

"Sir, please leave, we can help her, but you can't be here!"

"No! I won't leave her! Lexi!" The doctor struggled to tear him away from her, but he wasn't strong enough.

"Sir, you need to leave now!" He signaled to the bodyguards, who stepped over and threatened to pull Ace away. Behind Ace, doctors were attempting to use a defibrillator to shock Lexi back to life. The monitor would flare up, and drop back down to its screeching beep.

"I'm not leaving her! Lexi, wake up!" Ace's eyes turned radiant yellow, threatening anyone who came near. He stood around her body, preventing the approach of anyone.

"Mr. Bunny, I'm asking you to leave, for her sake!"

Ace merely growled in reply as the bodyguards advanced on him. He struggled to fight, but wasn't using his lasers for fear of damaging the guards. They were innocent, and Ace didn't want anyone else to get hurt. They grabbed his arms, and broke his grip.

"Lexi!" Tears were streaming down his face now, pouring out from his sapphire eyes. "Lexi, please!"

The heart monitor stayed the same, the long whine of alarms blaring into his ears.

* * *

><p>She continued on the jagged path, never looking back. Yet, with every step, Lexi grew more and more anxious to see the end of the road. With every footfall, her belief that she had chosen the wrong path waxed stronger and stronger. The wind, at first so weak, so irrelevant, was becoming louder and stronger by the second. A faint voice could be heard, carried along by the gust.<p>

"Lexi…" It sighed.

She slowed down, harassed by the wind, until she stopped in the middle of the passageway. "Is someone calling me?" she wondered aloud.

"Lexi…"

"Who's there?" She spun around in a circle, looking for the owner of the voice. Distress was evident on the blonde bunny's face, her eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

"Lexi…"

"Who are you? Where are you?" She shouted.

"Lexi." The faint whispering was rapidly becoming a distinguishable voice.

"Do I know you?" Her mind was in turmoil, distracted by the tumult of the gale.

"Lexi!" The voice was strong now, the sound resonant in Lexi's ears.

"Ace?" She asked.

"Lexi, please!" Ace roared, his voice magnified by the hurricane force swirling around her, sand flung from the ground.

"Ace! Ace, I'm coming!"

She ran into the wind, following its origin. She strayed from the jagged path, her feet torn and bleeding. A glorious light glowed in the distance, at the end of the road she had been following, but it was insignificant now. Lexi kept running towards the wind, struggling to keep moving. No tempest would halt her though, Ace was calling. The air flowed through her fur, blowing back her ears and hair, normally so perfectly kept, but now in chaotic tangles. Nothing could hold her back, as she forced her way through the cyclone. She kept running, the journey seemingly endless, until she found herself on another path. Smooth stones lay under her feet, neither paved nor jagged. The windstorm felt as if it was coming from the end of this path. Lexi sheltered her face with her arms as she pressed on through…

* * *

><p>A brief pulse flashed across the monitor. A dead silence hit the room, and even the distressed Ace was quiet. Everyone stopped, absolutely still, and stared at the monitor and the bunny attached to it. At this precise moment, Rev, Tech, Slam and Duck showed up in the doorway.<p>

"Who died?" Duck asked insensitively. Tech glared at him, as no one else had batted an eye.

The paparazzi and news reporters were rushing to the door at the commotion formerly made. Tech, noticing the state of the room, ushered everyone out, except the doctors and Ace. Slam became the new blockade to prevent reporters from getting into Lexi's room.

The monitor pulsed once more. And again. Bit by bit, her heart beat was returning. Nobody in the room moved a muscle.

* * *

><p>Her pace became a sprint as she rushed into the hurricane gale. The stones were odd, difficult to run on, yet smooth at the same time. No wind could stop her now, but the wind was dying down, silent at last. She kept going though, straight on the same path. A soft light enveloped her…<p>

* * *

><p>Lexi shot up, her eyes opening wide. Ace flew to her side, and hugged her, holding her head against his chest. His hand pushed her head onto him, her ears falling onto his hand. A look of confusion covered her face, before a sigh of contentment escaped her lips. At last, he had done something about his feelings. She noticed all the other people standing around, staring at her for a moment, and she blushed.<p>

"Ace…What are you doing? Are you crying?" She asked weakly.

"No! Uh…um…I'm jest glad you're alive." Ace stuttered out. His face flushed crimson, and he pulled back sharply. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, trying to hide his embarrassment. She giggled softly, the slight laughter inaudible to all in the room.

She looked around for a second. "Where am I?"

"Acmetropolis Hospital. Room 205, ta be exact."

The doctors, who normally would have gone nuts over a spontaneous recovery like such, kept quiet, and merely monitored her vitals, leaving the two love-struck bunnies to converse. A few of the doctors and nurses rolled their eyes, but they were ignored, the two bunnies having forgotten anyone else was in the room.

"So what happened?"

"Ya might want ta sit up for dis one." Lexi tried to sit up, but strained herself as she attempted to place a pillow behind her back. Her muscles were extremely sore after being beaten so thoroughly, and she groaned from the pain. She was lucky to even be conscious and talking already, let alone alive. Ace pushed her back up, and moved up a pillow behind her, his hands gentle to the touch. She muttered a quiet "Thanks" as he grabbed his seat again, and sat down by her side. Ace sat and explained everything that had occurred since she had been knocked out. Lexi listened intently to every word.

"…And so dat's how ya ended up here." Ace finished.

"Impressive. I wonder if that'll be on the news tonight. Everyone else is safe?"

"Yeah. Dey were in here for a minute, but dey left quickly when…." Ace trailed off.

"I'm not going to be out of the hospital for days. And the green gowns they have here are not my color." Lexi grumbled.

"Nei, it wouldn't look bad on ya, Lex. Nuttin can do dat." Ace teased.

"How can anyone look good in those? It's like a toga someone dropped in a kindergarten class!"

"Da trick is, you're wearin it. Me on the other hand… I would look fantastic like dat!"

"I'll stick you in one of those things! Tell me if they're just as excellent then!" Lexi played along with the joke.

"After you, m'lady!" They both sat there laughing.

"Still, being cooped up here's going to be a pain. And what'll I do about training with Ater?" Sorrow flitted across the doe's face.

"Dat's ok, Lex. I'll visit ya every day. And Ater won't be a problem."

"You would do that for me?" Lexi's face wore a slightly bewildered look.

"Absolutely. I promise."

Lexi wanted to see how much further she could get him to go with this line of discussion. She knew exactly where she could take this, and wanted to see his reaction.

"Why?" she asked, "Why would you do that for me?"

The extraordinarily simple question threw Ace off. He looked around, as if hoping for a means of escape to arrive. It appeared in the form of a doctor attempting to usher Ace out of the room.

"Mr. Bunny, you need to leave your wife now. She needs her rest, but you can visit again later."

_Wait, what? Wife? What's he talking about? _Lexi looked as confused on the outside as she was on the inside. She was disappointed that the doctor had interfered. She lay back down on the bed, preparing to sleep. _I'll ask him about this later._

Ace seized the perfect excuse to leave the room. "Be back later, Lex." He called out as he left.

_That was a close one._ He exhaled all his emotions in a great sigh of relief. _Does she know I like her?_

_Of course. It's not like you've hidden it well. You did just squeeze her to death at the shock of seeing her alive. But then again, she may not like you._

_Does she like me? Why would she? I mean, I'm just me… nothing special…_

The emotional debate in his head was cut short by a flood of flashing cameras and rolling film.

"Ace, is it true you've married Lexi Bunny?" "What is your current relationship with her?" "When did this all start?" "Are we going to be seeing little bunnies around the city now?" "What was your first date like?" "How is the team reacting to all of this? Do they know you're married?"

Ace backed up against the door of her room, incapable of escaping this new trial. "Uh…No! Friends! Um…neveh. No! Of course you won't! Deh's nuttin goin on!"

The paparazzi closed in on Ace, still shouting out question after question. Suddenly, the cameras were crushed in their hands by spheres of black. Ater strode down the hall, his black cloak swirling behind him.

"At ease, various annoying reporters." He said.

"My camera! What have you done?" One whining little man cried out.

"Don't worry, I know you have fifty thousand other ones at work. Now get going, you heard the bunny. There's nothing happening. Leave now." Ater chuckled to himself as they filed out of the hallway, some looking back at him in hatred.

"There'll be something in the tabloids regardless!" He shouted at their retreating backs. "Where was I now? Oh yeah, Ace, how's she doing?"

Ace watched the reporters for a moment more, wondering whether it was fair to simply destroy their material like that when the Loonatics were supposed to defend justice. He disregarded it, recalling that it probably would show up anyway. He turned to Ater. "She's doin fine, doc. Battered and bruised. Dat goil's tough, she neally died."

Ater noticed the sadness across his face, and the rage that replaced it. "Don't worry about Vena. She'll be locked up for a very long time. I made sure of it."

Ater had appeared to read Ace's mind. "Dat's good ta hear."

Ace still seemed distracted, confusing Ater. "Is there anything you guys need? In all probability, Lexi'll be out by tomorrow. She'll need your help, but, I don't think she'd have a problem with you assisting her." Ater emphasized the 'you' in that sentence.

An imaginary lightbulb flared to life over Ace's head. "Y'know, doc, now dat I tink about it, we could probably use dat vacation."

Ater's expression grew dark. "You really ought to be back at HQ for training."

Ace sensed Ater's vehemence, but pressed his point anyway. "Lexi needs da time off ta recoveh. We've been training for da entire week, and we'he sore. We just got beat, and we need ta heal."

Ater mulled it over quickly. "Fine." He said after a minute. "You can have your vacation. On several conditions."

"Several?" Ace gulped.

"Yeah. One, you have one week. No more, no less. Two, you train. You personally will meditate for at least two hours daily, to clear your mind and heart. You will attempt to teach the team to do the same. You will train, whether it be fighting, agility, or powers. Where do you intend on going?"

Ace thought about it for a moment. "Da mountains. My parents left me a shack up dere, and da cold will be good for Lexi's bruises."

"Fair enough. Inform the team. Stay with Lexi if you want, I'm returning to headquarters. Make sure Lexi comes back tomorrow, you're week starts as soon as you leave arrive at your cabin."

"Lexi's supposed to stay here for safety." Ace stated defensively.

Ater snorted. "You're the Loonatics. That's enough to solve several problems on its own."

Ace realized the truth of that statement as Ater leaned back into a shadow, transporting himself back to Planet Blanc. Ace walked down the hall, where he found the rest of the team seated as they were before. Everyone was still fairly nervous, but they calmed down on seeing Ace smiling. Duck was completely nonchalant about the whole thing, though. He told the team of the plan, and everyone, except Ace, left to get back home.

* * *

><p>Ace spent the night in his chair at Lexi's side, listening to the beating of her heart through the monitor. He stayed awake for as long as he could, but the weight of contented sleep forced his eyes shut. His head fell against Lexi's pillow, and their ears became intertwined in a tangle. The next morning, Lexi was released from the hospital, being under the protection and care of the Loonatics. The morning tabloids did indeed spread rumors about their relationship, but Ace noticed these and threw them away before Lexi could see them. Throughout the morning, Lexi was only semi-conscious, due to her medication, and giggled to herself as Ace carried her out of the hospital bridal-style, and took her back to Headquarters.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>So did anyone catch the slight Star Trek reference? Just curious. Anyway, I really enjoyed writing that chapter. If you have any tips, please review. I'm worried that the story my become too OC heavy later, if it isn't already. Oh, and if you have a better name for this chapter, please tell me, I;m not quite content with it but I couldn't think of anything better. Vacation time next... this is going to be a right pain in the neck.<strong>


	8. Chapter 8: Arrival

Chapter 8: Arrival

Lexi struggled to walk into Headquarters, but Ace was supporting her. She had her arm wrapped around his shoulders as they entered the building, although she was leaning on him more than her crutch. Navigating between the suitcases strewn around the rooms was difficult, but the two of them were capable of avoiding them. Slam, Duck, Tech, and Rev had packed on their return, leaving Lexi and Ace to prepare. The four Loonatics ready to leave were sitting around watching television. The two bunnies continued to hobble down the halls, until they reached Lexi's room.

"I'll probably be good from here, Ace." Lexi removed her arm, and leaned against a wall.

"Ya sure? I've got time ta help if ya need it." Concern was evident on the bunny's face.

"It's fine. I can handle packing clothes for a week." Lexi assured him.

"If ya need any help at all, bunny, just call and I'll be dere." Ace left the room.

The drugs were finally starting to wear off Lexi, but she wasn't quite ready to get up and walk. She slumped against the wall, still tired. Slowly, she made her way towards the hammock, feeling that she needed to rest. Ace had only been out of the room for a minute when…

"Ace? I need some help." Lexi called him back into the room.

He sighed slightly, as he had just been about to pack all of his stuff. "What is it, bunny?"

"I'm really tired, and I'm going to take a nap. Would you mind helping me pack?" By this, Lexi really meant, 'would you pack for me?'

Ace immediately picked up on this, and, exasperated as he was, he knew the doe was still weak from the fight. "Sure, Lex."

"Just make sure the clothes match." She ordered. She rolled over in her hammock and fell asleep.

Ace began to rifle through her clothing drawers and her closets, pulling out various winter outfits. They were going to the mountains, after all, and it was definitely not warm there. Ace walked into her closet, and was surrounded by clothes. Lexi owned a ton, despite the fact that she almost always wore her uniform. "Nei, dis is gonna take a while." Ace groaned.

The mass of clothing slowly drove him nuts as he attempted to decide what top went with what pants, and then socks, shoes, jackets, everything else all had to match! Lexi's room became cluttered as Ace tossed clothing around the room. He still had no idea what matching clothes even looked like. Finally, he got fed up with the chaos and left the room for a minute, to gather his sanity back. Ater happened to be pacing up and down the hallway. "Everything all right, Ace?"

"Lexi wanted me ta pick her clodes out for her." Ace explained, practically gasping for air.

"Yeesh. She's really got you all wrapped around her finger, doesn't she? So what's the problem?" Ater laughed slightly at the disheveled bunny.

"Da matching! Da sheer number of combinations! It's drivin me mad, doc! How dese goils do it, I don't know!" Ace cried out.

"Well, first, you're asking the wrong person about matching." Ater pointed to his black clothing. "Second, try this. Just grab one of everything. If it doesn't hurt your eyes when put together, or remind you of the holidays, it's ok. Or, just grab a pair of jeans."

"Ya sure?" Ace looked hopeful now, as if he might actually be able to get through this.

"If it doesn't work and she gets mad, tell her she looks good in everything." Ace blushed at this comment, while Ater chuckled at his reaction.

_Wha…! Even the new guy knows I like her! Does she know? I'm not that obvious…am I?_

"Alright, doc, but if dis doesn't woik, I'm blamin you." Ace said slowly as he backed into the doorway.

"No! No, no, no, you do not do that! The purpose of her doin' this was to…never mind." Ater had seen the blank look on Ace's face, and gave up trying to convey his message. "Just, don't blame me for what happens when you say that…" Ater walked off back down the hallway as Ace stood there, confused. The suited anthro re-entered Lexi's room and began to clean up. He followed Ater's advice, and managed to gather some semblance of acceptable clothing. Most of the stuff was ready, including the snow gear, but a few things were left.

Lexi yawned as she finally started to wake back up. "Ace, you done yet?"

"Almost. Just a few more tings…" Lexi saw him in front of her dresser, searching through a very specific drawer.

"Chief, what are you doing in there?"

"Tryin ta pick out a swimsuit. You really have a ton of dem. We don't go swimming all dat often Lex." Ace faced the bunny lying in the hammock, and held up a pair of underwear. "Doesn't seem like it'd do all dat much for keepin water out, Lex, but it's your swimsuit."

Lexi didn't know whether to laugh her head off or be horrifically embarrassed. She tried to remain calm, but seemed to scoff at Ace's ignorance. "Ace. That's not a swimsuit."

Ace sat on the floor, not understanding. He stared at the object in his hand for a minute more, before comprehension dawned on him. His face turned beet-red, replacing the yellow of his suit. He slowly placed the item back into the drawer, and shut it. "I'm sorry." He was acting like a child having been scolded. At this point Lexi did burst out laughing. She fell out of her hammock, and kept laughing on the floor.

"What's so funny?" Ace was puzzled by her sudden change, from mortified to losing her mind laughing.

"Your face! The expression!" She said between breaths. She started to calm down.

"Tink my face was funny, huh? Dis oughta keep ya laughin' den!" Ace bolted over to the blonde bunny, and began tickling her.

"Ace, stop!" She wheezed. She kicked and flailed, and when she moved his fingers out of her stomach, he just grabbed her feet and started tickling those! Her face started to change colors, and she started gasping for air. Only then did Ace release her.

"Who's laughin' now?" Ace joked.

"You're evil, you know that? Torturing a recently injured rabbit. Not even proper." Lexi faked pain, and acted as if his tickling was going to be the end of her. She pretended to faint, her hand placed on her forehead dramatically as she fell onto the ground, her back lying against the floor.

"But all dat ticklin' drained me too." Ace mimicked Lexi, and fell on top of her, his back resting against her stomach.

"Get off me, ya big lump."

_Kiss him. _Part of Lexi wanted to, so very badly. He was sitting right there, this was the opportune moment.

_He may not like me. That'd ruin everything…what would the team think? I want to, but…_

_Kiss him._

_No._

Lexi's mind warred with itself, and it seemed to show on her face. "Are ya alright, Lex?" Lexi snapped back into reality.

"Yeah, chief, I'm fine."

Ace got off of her, and looked around at the still-messy room. "I probably oughta clean dis up."

"Let me check what you've got packed for me already. If it's anything like that 'swimsuit' I won't be wearing much all week." Ace reddened once more, and Lexi giggled.

Lexi began to sort through the pile Ace had stacked in the corner, while Ace sat back and watched. Occasionally, she would toss out an article of clothing, but for the most part, the pile stayed the same. Eventually, she stopped.

"Wow, Ace, I'm surprised. You actually managed to pick out some decent clothes for me." Deep in the recesses of her heart, Lexi was feeling warm and fuzzy. Her leader, and secret crush, had successfully managed to pick out clothes for her. He wasn't some kind of sick person that would have tried to take advantage of this opportunity to pack virtually nothing; he had chosen modest clothes, the kind she liked. Neither too revealing, nor too covering. She loved the hidden hope that one day, she might be able to wake up at his side, and he would lovingly and kindly be capable of taking care of her. In sickness, and in health, the vows said. And she would hold true to it, and hoped Ace would too. The slightest doubt over his ability crept into her heart, and she felt that it was necessary to voice this. "You didn't happen to get help, did you?"

Ace flinched, preparing for the onslaught. "Jest a little." He shied away from Lexi, backing towards the wall.

A look of aggravation took over Lexi's face. "And who helped with this? How much?" A slight amount of anger could be detected in her voice as well.

"Ater, he jest suggested some basic rules ta help out." Ace stopped cowering, and stood straight once more. "Jest talked about jeans and matchin' da clodes."

"And you still managed to mess up. Impressive, chief, but you did get help from someone who wears all black nearly all the time." Lexi said sarcastically.

Ace stood there unmoving, while Lexi angrily began to shove her clothes into a suitcase. "You ready, chief?"

Ace shook his head to bring himself back to reality. "I'll get on dat."

He walked out of the room and began to pack his own stuff. He had already planned on what he was bringing, and since it wasn't exactly difficult to choose, he finished quickly. At last he dragged his own suitcase out into the living room, where all the other Loonatics stood waiting, along with Ater. Each stood by their suitcase, some, like Lexi's, jammed full, while others had no bulge at all. Lexi was still tapping her foot angrily.

Ater pulled Ace aside for a moment. "Remember, training, meditation, no more injuries. And what'd you do to Lexi?"

"Nuttin'! I jest told her dat I had your help wit da packin' rules, and she got mad."

Ater covered his face with his hand in shame. "Really? I told you not do that specifically, and you did it anyway."

"Ya didn't tell me dat she'd get mad!" Ace attempted to defend himself.

"Excuses. Pitiful ones, too. You still don't even get why she's mad, do you?" Ater shook his head, still shamed by Ace's actions.

"No clue, doc." Ace stood there, completely straight-faced.

"Oy. You rabbits just can't admit it, can you? Just make it up to her over this vacation. Don't screw up." Ater faced the entire group now, and began spoke loudly and clearly. "Get goin'. You guys have a place to be, remember?"

The rest of the Loonatics, who had been lolling around, burst into activity, and all began walking towards the hangar as if HQ was some kind of airport. Thankfully, Ater didn't check for tickets. They boarded a small spacecraft Tech had built. The craft was moderately sized, blue, and had an extendable walkway that all the Loonatics entered the craft on.

"If anything happens, I'd better be one of the first to know!" Ater shouted at the retreating team.

They waved good-bye, as Tech fired the engines and prepared the ship for liftoff. With a burst of flame, the ship hovered above the ground, and began its journey towards a wormhole, and, from there, the cabin Ace's family had owned.

The craft hovered a few feet above the ground, the heat of the engines melting the snow around it. It slowly descended, and the wheels touched the earth, landing the spacecraft. One by one, the Loonatics exited the craft carrying their luggage. Lexi stepped off the ramp, and was surrounded by a field of soft, white snow, gently drifting down from the heavens. Close-by was a wooden cabin, large for such a thing, with two stories and balconies jutting from the sides, but not excessively so. A few members of the group, the ones with many bags, returned on multiple trips to retrieve said bags. Once everyone had retrieved their belongings, Tech placed a tarp over the craft to keep it from being covered by the constantly falling snow.

The inside of the cabin was fairly dusty, having not been used in a while. A stone fire-place, the ashes of the previous fire still in it, was fixed to the wall of the living room, where a couch was. The cabin was similar to a hunting lodge, the decorations being animalistic and wooden or made of stone. Despite the fact that all the Loonatics were anthros, the stuffed moose heads and wolf pictures didn't agitate them at all. The cabin felt like home, despite the fact that it was nothing like HQ. The beds were normal beds, but the frames were made of carved, round, polished wood, of excellent craftsmanship. Paintings were hung throughout the cabin, some of Ace and his family, others of scenes in nature. Each bedroom had a sliding door to a balcony, with a solid wooden rail. The picturesque view of snow through the glass doors was beautiful. Outside on the porch was a hot tub, unique in that one could be in a hot tub in the snow.

The Loonatics took some time to explore the lodge, and chose their rooms. Unsurprisingly, Lexi chose the room closest to Ace's. Her muscles ached as she climbed the stairs, struggling to continue movement at all. The minute she dropped the suitcase upstairs, she flopped out on her bed. Night fell quickly, and all the Loonatics had accomplished so far was unpacking. They had arrived late, thanks to the bunnies' bickering. Rev was on dinner duty for the night

Ace had found time to walk through the cabin nostalgically, recounting all the memories of the place he had. His hands traced along the wooden walls, visions of his family returning to him. Laughter filled his ears, although it was an illusion of the memories, rather than that of reality.

"Are you alright, Ace?" Lexi peeked her head out of the doorway, care invading her voice. She had noticed his silence, the quiet being unusual outside of his meditation or sleep. And even when he slept, he snored a bit.

"Yeah…I'm fine, Lex, it's jest…it's been a while since I was here." Ace's voice was cracked and emotional, but Lexi accepted the answer, for now. She noted this to herself, and decided to ask him about this later.

"Alright…well, Rev's got dinner ready." She told him.

"Dis should be interestin', den." Ace followed Lexi down the steps, into the kitchen.

Greeting them was, astonishingly, a delicious meal placed on the plain table. They ate their dinner, conversing over how Ace acquired the house, how great it was, and what they planned to do over this vacation. The Loonatics, gathered around the table, acted like a regular family, ignoring all their differences and powers, the things that set them apart from each other and the rest of the world. Soon, they had finished eating, and prepared for bed. Night fell quickly on the mountains they were in, not to mention the fact that they were exhausted from the battle and previous week's training. One by one, they left to their rooms, and drifted off into peaceful slumber.

The next morning, considered the second day of their one week vacation, Ace rose at the crack of dawn. The blinds of his window were left open, allowing the light to pass through, waking him. Sunlight was the first alarm clock known to intelligent society, and it served Ace's purpose here. He yawned for a moment, still drowsy, but slid out of the bed, changed into his cold weather clothing, and got ready for a walk. The others were still asleep, and Ace tiptoed through the cabin to let them rest. Out of all of them, Lexi needed it the most, and with those ears and being right across from Ace, sneaking out quietly was not the easiest. However, he managed to get down the stairs, and slipped on some black snow boots. He passed through the door to the lodge, and surveyed the scene before him. Nearby, the craft that brought them there sat under a tarp, but if not for the absurd pile of snow framing the ship, it would have been nearly impossible to find. The tarp Tech had placed on it would protect it from the snow, but just seeing the thing was difficult. In the distance was a forest growing up the side of the mountain. Evergreen trees covered the edge, but snow fell even on the trees. The trees closest to the cabin were covered in snow, but farther down the mountain, less snow fell and the woods were green. He began to walk towards the forest, leaving tracks in the snow, and making a clear path. Normally, he would never go out into an environment like this, where someone could easily become lost, but this place was a part of his childhood. He knew it the same way he knew Headquarters and Acmetropolis; it was simply a part of who he was. He trudged off into the woods, awed by the beauty of the falling snow and surrounded by the forest, and its silence.

Hours later, though not too long, the other Loonatics began to wake up. One by one, they paraded out into the kitchen, each focused on breakfast. The dining room was strategically placed right next to a gigantic window, to see the beautiful field of snow outside. Today's morning meal was cereal. It wasn't anything special, since nobody really knew what they could make. Ace returned soon after everyone sat down. Ace was the only one not still in his pajamas, but the group didn't seem to mind. He shook off the snow as he walked into the cabin, and took off his boots. Out in this snow, boots were one of the only practical types of footwear. At first, everyone had been quietly munching away on cereal, even Duck not saying anything. However, when Ace walked in, the conversation began.

"So, chief, what are we doing today?" Lexi began.

"Nothing. Because there's nothing to do here. We could just pave all of this over, and make some money off a ski resort!" Duck's eyes glittered at the prospect of making money quickly and easily.

Ace looked agitated. "Duck, dis place has been in my family for years. We're not buildin' any'ting. And, dat would defeat da point of bein' around nature."

"There's plenty to do around here. I just finished the perfect invention for a snowball fight." A mischievous grin crossed Tech's face.

"So there you go, Duck. Snowball fight. Then we could go skiing, and there's a hot tub out back..." Lexi glanced at Ace for a moment at the last part, but Ace was the only one who didn't see it. The rest of the group just turned away and smirked.

"Not-to-mention-snowboarding,-hiking,-tubing,-cooking,-watching-TV,-reading,-cave-exploring,-or-we-could-just-stay-inside." Rev added.

"fuisdhispowbiblsopsdnbdi!" Slam shouted.

"Slam, I don' know who's going ta build an igloo when we got a poifectly good house right here." Ace laughed.

Slam was slightly embarrassed by the silly suggestion. "Oh."

"So, what exactly do we want ta start wit?" Ace asked.

Lexi stuttered for a moment, and suddenly acted really shy. "Guys, I…I can't really do much today."

Everyone stared at her blankly, not comprehending what she meant. Ace was the first to understand.

He gasped for a second. "I'm sorry, Lex! I fo'got you were still recoverin'!" Ace apologized. He turned to the team. "Not much outside for today, den, guys."

"We can still go. It's only Lexi that's too injured to do anything." Duck pointed out rudely.

"I'm not jest goin' ta leave her here alone. Injoid people need help. I'll stay back if everyone else wants ta go." Ace volunteered.

Lexi was glaring at Duck in the background, and threw a metal spoon at him, striking him square on the head.

"Ow!" He said in pain, rubbing the spot on his head where the spoon hit.

Ace turned to see what had happened, but Lexi and Duck smiled in an unconvincingly innocent manner. Ace excused the cover-up, having not seen what happened. As soon as Ace turned away, Duck shook his fist at Lexi.

"Thanks, chief." She ignored Duck, and was grateful that Ace would volunteer to stay behind on the first real day of vacation. Technically, they only had six days left. She didn't want them wasted, but Ace was willing to sacrifice it to help her. "I'm not going to be that big of a pain." Lexi tried to stand up and show them she was alright, but her legs gave way beneath her, and she crumbled. Ace caught her as she fell.

"What's going on?" Lexi asked. "I wasn't this bad in the hospital."

"This is the 28th century, Lexi. You were given a pill that would let you recover more quickly, but you wouldn't exactly be the most stable. Soreness, weakness, these were side effects of the pill. It's a trade-off. Sadly, no science is perfect, and we had to give up your strength to get you up faster." Tech sighed, and explained what had happened. In his eyes, science would always be perfect, though others might not see it that way.

"Mode'n ma'vels." Ace whistled. He had known about this, since he told the doctors to give it to her.

"Then how was I fine yesterday?"

"Rapid recovery, followed by a slower, but still accelerated rate. When the rate slows down, you crash at the same time. Just what it does." Tech shrugged.

Lexi stood up, with Ace's help. "If one of you offers me a wheelchair, I'll blast you off the side of this mountain." She threatened. Duck gulped, having planned to do exactly that.

"You've still got ta meditate. Why don't ya do dat, Lex?" Ace suggested.

She considered the idea as he lead her up the stairs. "Alright. Clear my mind. I'll try it."

"No distractions." Ace promised.

They arrived at Lexi's room, and Lexi sat on her bed. "Call me if ya need anyt'ing." Lexi nodded her head as he left the room. She shut her eyes and began to clear her mind. Ace returned down the stairs and to the table, where the other Loonatics still were.

"Make up your minds?" Ace asked.

"Well-we-just-decided-to-go-check-out-the-slopes-and-get-ready-for-later-in-the-week. Pick-out-skiis-and-stuff." Rev informed him.

"Well, let's leave. We don't have time to waste now." Duck ushered them all off the table, and into their rooms to get ready to go. Soon, everyone had put on puffy jackets and left, except Ace and Lexi.

After they had departed, Ace plodded up to his room, and decided to follow Lexi's example and meditate. Meditation wasn't always about clearing your mind; sometimes, Ace used it as a time to focus in on one topic. It was a method of cutting off the outside world. For the moment, he chose Ater as the topic. Where he came from, what he was doing, who Vena was, why Ater knew her, these topics all flew through his mind. However, he didn't have the answer to any of these, and that was an unnerving fact. He recalled the battle with Vena, but when he reached the part in the mental movie in which Lexi was beaten, he began to become distracted. Ace seethed with anger at the memory, but the very thought of Lexi soon calmed him down. She became the new focus of his meditations. When at last he noticed that he was practically drooling at the thought of her, he snapped himself back, clearing his mind of all thought this time. It was like this that the hours flew by, and soon Ace stopped meditating. He hadn't heard from Lexi for a while, so he went to check on her. She lay sleeping across the bed, her ears tossed across the pillow. One of her arms fell off the side of the bed. Ace stood in the doorway and chuckled, and noted that he would have to assist her with the meditating. Ace returned to his room in order to waste time, and sat on his bed and listened to classical music. It soothed him. Soon the others returned. Overall, the day ended up being slow and rather useless, except to help Lexi recover. At dinner that night, they planned out what they would do for the rest of the week, adjusting the schedule based off of Lexi's predicted strength. They joked, and laughed, and acted like the happy family they were. Here, there was no tension, no stress, no threat that at any moment the planet could be attacked; they were safe. This spirit of relaxation did more for them than any medical professional could have. The moon rose quickly, and star-shine signaled that the day was passed. At Slam's yawn, the group accepted that it was time for bed.

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><p><strong>Sorry it took so long. I had a hard time writing this part. I had a few major ideas, but the vacation's a week long, so I had to save all the events. Writer's block. I;m not sure about the title of this story, so I would appreciate any suggestions.<strong>


	9. Chapter 9: The Destroyed World

**Short chapter. Needed to work on something outside of the vacation. So, Meanwhile:**

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><p><span>Chapter 9: Here the Darkness Meets the Light (The Destroyed World)<span>

Ater watched as the team rocketed into the atmosphere, leaving Headquarters behind. He gazed at the vehicle until it vanished from sight, and turned away to go back inside once it was gone. The building seemed so quiet without them there, save for the electronic beeps and buzzes. He took time to wander through the halls, not searching or inspecting as he did previously, but simply pacing and gathering his thoughts. Slowly he found his way back to his room, and simply lay on his bed, his hands folded across his chest. He wasn't sleeping. He stared at the ceiling, watching the fan rotate around and around. It was extremely mindless, and that was what he needed at the moment. The inactivity of his surroundings gave him time to think, and yet, very little thinking was accomplished. The same emotions and ideas dominated his mind and heart, erasing any hope of other thoughts occurring. Seeing her smug face brought it all back.

At first Ater's anger was trivial, worn off over the day's events. Yet, as he remembered, and recalled the battle with Vena, the fire grew. It fed on itself, one of those unique fires that merely needed a trigger, and will leeched off of itself. Its own existence led to increased fury, and this fury fueled its existence. Eventually, Ater could no longer contain it, and leapt into a black portal born of the shadows on the wall.

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><p>A desolate landscape was all that was in sight. Miles and miles of empty land stretched out across the horizon. Sand lay on the land, absolutely still. This world felt still. There was no air here, the atmosphere having vanished long ago. There were no clouds, no blue sky, only the dark reaches of space and the starlight shining down from above. It was this light that made the grains of sand twinkle and shimmer. The whole planet felt unreal, an ethereal dream. No wind blew. The planet was still, unmoving, silent. It was quiet here. It was truly the destroyed world, a wasteland of sparkling sand and starlight. Except for one thing.<p>

Jutting out of this desolate landscape was an obelisk, lonely and tall. This great monolith was pure black, and extraordinarily wide. It had one low, rounded entrance into its hollow interior. Above this doorway read: _In Memoriam_. Ater walked into this entryway, and stood in the center of the rectangular inside. Still, the walls were black, and the sky couldn't be seen. The inside of the obelisk was lit, though. There was writing on the walls, written in flame. They were carved into the rock faces, and glowed like fire, ever-burning. They were warmed by the heat of the planet, designed never to burn out, not until the end of days. This writing was millions and millions of names.

He spun around, awed by the sheer numbers, entranced by the glow. Here in the shadow of the monolith, a memorial was burned into the walls, for all of time. Nobody could memorize all of those names. There was no discrimination. There was no difference in skin color, gender, status, wealth, happiness, age. They were simply names. Yet, these names had an extraordinary impact on Ater. Directly in front of him were the few names that mattered the most to him. Four names, with the last name of "Knight" were etched into the monument. They burned into his soul, as he stood staring. A moment later, he fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face. His hands were in the sand, no smooth floor to bar the way between. He sobbed, the breath rattling his body. He moved in spasms, unable to contain what he felt here, in this place of honesty. Here, light met dark, joined in sorrow and memory. He lifted his face at last, and saw the plaque lying on the ground. It read, "_Here, I honor my mistakes, for time immemorial. I will atone_." It was this statement that gave him the strength to stand, for it was a promise. He pushed himself off the ground, and stood. He walked out the doorway, wiping the tears from his face. After he had passed through, Ater turned around to look at the final inscription, carved into the monument, although missing the fire the names had. "_Travelers, the dead are remembered here. Pay your respects_." This was the first thing any visitor would read, and the last they would see as they viewed the monument for the final time. Few travelers came to the destroyed world, knowing it served no more purpose, and was a ghostly, eerie wasteland. So many memories were locked into this place… Ater felt the hatred return, replacing the grief he had felt mere moments before. It arrived with such force that he felt his stomach clench to simply contain the emotion. At last, he could not hold it back any longer. Ater bellowed all the rage into the sky, a bestial, agonized roar. So strong was this feeling that his powers had burst into the roar, the sound waves only existing because of the dark energy laced into each wave. It travelled into the sky, and vanished, camouflaged by space, and dying without the medium to carry them, air. A flash of light appeared behind him. He grinned, although it was a pained one, the muscles faltering on his face, and turned around slowly.

There stood Caeli, in a white t-shirt, a small black vest overtop it, and white jeans.

"What, no formal wear?" Ater teased. "I'm hurt. You'll dress well for a ruler, but not for your oldest friend?"

Her voice was soft and peaceful. "Ater, why are you here?"

"Cut to the chase, will we? Well, miss, I could ask the same of you." Ater's faced seemed playful, but it was his eyes that told the truth. So dark, always focused and intense, yet sad and tired at the same time.

"I'm here because you are." Caeli calmly stated.

"Ha." He chuckled. "You don't come running every time I go somewhere."

"Please, cut the act. I can see your pain." Caeli cut straight to the point, and told things as she saw them. Such was the honesty of the light, although light could be more deceiving than any darkness at times.

Ater stared at her. "I needed to be here." He said simply.

"You were crying." Caeli pointed out.

He snarled at her. "You act as if I don't have justification!"

"Why are you torturing yourself with this? You're only causing yourself more pain!" She was growing frustrated, past arguments rising back up.

"How can you stand there and ask that? How can you bear to look at me, knowing what I've done?" Ater shouted.

She was taken aback for a minute. "Because I know you. Because I care about you. If you were anyone else, I could never forgive you. But you are not anyone else. You are guilty, yes, but you hate yourself for it. You and I both know it. You let it devour you, it tears apart your heart and soul." Ater turned his head away in shame. "Why do you think you made the monument? The plaque in the heart of it was your promise, to the memory of the dead, that you would atone. Vengeance, Ater, and justice are two different things, though they may blend at times. You have atoned with the heart. It is this which redeems you. Now, we must avenge what has been done."

"We can never fix the mistakes of the past, Caeli. I gave that up long ago." Pain was the only thing his face showed now.

"You're right. But there is justice. No mistake should be repeated." Caeli walked right up to his face, and looked into his eyes.

"I don't plan on doing it again. I took down Vena already."

"Four more to go." She said, her voice full of hope.

The duo began to walk away from the monument, with no set destination and no purpose, outside of walking and talking.

"Do you honestly think there'll be an end to this?" She asked quietly.

Ater sighed. "Either we finish this, or it finishes us. We stick to the plan, and pray it works."

"But will it be enough?"

"I can only hope. I'm not going down without a fight." Ater's face was full of grim determination. His fist clenched at his side, his mind and heart resolute in this choice.

Caeli laughed softly, though traces of suffering and pain could be heard in it. "You never did tell me why you were here." Ater said.

"Just finished molding one of them. I tried to find Vena, to make sure the molding worked, but she was missing. I figured you had something to do with it, so I tracked you down and found you here." Caeli explained.

"I put her in the dark, with no light at all. That's why you couldn't find her. So, how long does each one take? I mean, you're forcing sleeping super-powered people to immediately be drawn to Acmetropolis. Not exactly the easiest task." Ater inquired.

Caeli smiled. "Not too long, but long enough. I have to leave the minute one wakes up. They go to Acmetropolis, like I made them. You're right, molding the brainwaves of one of them isn't easy, but I've got to play my part. And how's yours going?"

Ater groaned, acting as if teaching the Loonatics was a pain. "What a mess. Two of them can't just admit they like each other. One's a power-hungry nutcase, but has no leadership skills. I've got a predator and his prey, building machines. I can't understand the last one, 'cause he talks in gibberish, if he's not eating. Plus, the minute I improve anyone's powers, they're useless for a week, until they're fully re-trained. They're not combat ready, and I had to save one from Vena. That one nearly died, and was stuck in the hospital. They're all on vacation now."

"You gave them vacation? How unlike you." Caeli faked surprise.

Ater was serious. "If they don't need it already, then they're going to."

Caeli shrugged. "Fair enough."

The two continued to walk, but at this point, the monument had vanished from sight. All that was left in their view was sand, in all directions. The only change was the location of the stars in the sky.

"How are you holding up?" Ater looked at her, the concern evident on his face.

She kicked the sand with her foot a bit, looking at the ground. "It's not easy. Living inside their ship. I'm nearly always working. And it's…frightening, I guess."

"I know." Ater put his arm around her shoulders, comforting her. "But once you're done, you can join us. Then the real party begins."

"Just as long as you don't start it without me." Caeli laughed, and looked into his eyes. "Wouldn't want to miss all the fun." Caeli pushed off him, and began to walk away.

"Watch your back." Ater said as she began to leave.

"That's what you're here for." Caeli smirked as she said this. She waved goodbye, and in a burst of light, was gone.

"Guess, I'd better get back. I swear, the two of us have got to be bipolar. Eh, well, we're nutcases together, no?" On this insightful note, Ater took one final look at the wasted horizon, and the stars in the sky, before he leapt into his own shadow, and traveled back to Headquarters.

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><p>For Ater, the rest of the week was rather uneventful. He inspected the prisons, in which he beat down some of the prisoners that disrespected him. No important villains showed up; it was mostly the minor criminal here and there, and those were jobs for the police, not a superhuman. Most of his time was spent training, or recording the day's events in a small logbook. Often, the recordings were short and to the point, describing little unless it was of the utmost importance. Patiently, he bided his time, until the end of the week when the Loonatics returned.<p>

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><p><strong>So, please elaborate in your reviews. I'd love to know what you thought. Joyful, horrifically depressed, bewildered, etc. And if you have no idea of what just happened, excellent! Backstory is in a much later chapter. And so, part of the character development for Caeli and Ater.<strong>


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